Moon Rising Over Tokyo
by The Universal Storyteller
Summary: Story I for a series set in a mostly AU version of Earth's Tokyo Zone. Another battle or two for at least one Senshi, if not more than one, and a new Knight also appears! Please read and review here, people! Cast List & 7 Chapters Now Up!
1. Cast of Characters

_Moon Rising Over Tokyo_ Cast of Characters

Compiled By The Universal Storyteller, 2007

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Main Characters (Positive):

Arinori Soruno / Sun (Sol) Knight

Kagome Rikouno / Sailor Mercury

Natsumi Hino / Sailor Venus

Hikari Tsukino / Sailor Moon

Susumu Chiba / Earth (Terra) Knight

Rumiko Aino / Sailor Mars

Motoki Senkano / Jupiter Knight

Mizuki / Hikari's cat

Blaze / Natsumi's cat

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Main Characters (Negative):

Queen Beryl

Jadeite

Nephlyte

Zoisite

Kunzite

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Other Characters:

Numerous classmates of the Senshi

Numerous monsters

Numerous non-Senshi-related civilians

Assorted relatives of the Senshi

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Notes: This story's series will generally be AU, for it normally will be set in another dimension besides the one that is most often considered to be canonical for Sailor Moon. Later on in this story series, there most certainly will be mixing of the characters from both of those dimensions, at least. If not also of any or all of the required characters from other similar enough dimensions. Just so you all know that well enough here, people. That is all. The Universal Storyteller out. 


	2. Chapter One

Sailor Moon and all related characters or concepts, et cetera, belong to Naoko Takeuchi and all sufficiently related parties, unless otherwise stated. However, in this version of things, at least, all the Senshi/Scouts, et cetera, who are from the main dimension of this story series are MINE, and only MINE, unless I say otherwise here. While the Senshi/Scouts in this story and its series may actually use the exact same combat identities as the canon Senshi/Scouts, they're not necessarily the same as them in their respective lives, for your information. Please do try to keep that in mind while you read this story and any others that might follow it in its series, people.

Now with no further ado, let's get on with the story here, if we may. And I really hope that you enjoy it quite a lot, of course, everyone. Please read and review often, then, in quite constructive manners, if and whenever possible and desired. This is The Universal Storyteller now saying, "Over and out!"

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_Moon Rising Over Tokyo_

Chapter One

It was just after 5:30 in the late afternoon of Tuesday, September 4, 1990, in Tokyo, Japan, when a young blonde girl came upon four boys about eight or nine years old who were picking on a light-colored cat. She soon made them leave the cat alone, and scattered them, by picking up a loose stick of considerable size, and going after them a bit. They soon fled the scene after she began whacking them with it. After they did so, she attended to the cat, and found a bandage of some sort on the cat's head. She took that bandage off the cat's head, and then continued on her way to her original planned destination. Which, in fact, was a Tokyo-area Athletic Club, by the way.

The just-rescued cat's name was Mizuki, and they were female. The bandage of sorts had covered up a crescent moon birthmark, and this birthmark was gold in color. Mizuki watched Hikari run away from the area, and got a strange feeling about her. She thought, "Could this be the girl I've been looking for quite a while, or not? I think I'm going to have to try to find her again in the near future, for that matter."

Mizuki soon began to search for Hikari here. And she did this for some time, in fact. Not yet knowing if and when she might see her again often enough, if at all. She did this while Hikari was otherwise occupied now in her life.

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Meanwhile, Hikari headed toward the Athletic Club she'd been heading to in the first place. By the time she got there, it was nearly 5:45 or so, local time. She soon changed her clothes into ones more appropriate for shooting basketball hoops in, as her friends Trinity Blake and Karen Sasaki did the same. By 5:55, then, the three girls were out on a basketball court elsewhere in the Athletic Club. When they got there, there were several other kids present on the court. Specifically, there were seven other kids there. None of which they actually knew well enough in their respective lives. And who they might often see in the future, for that matter. They didn't yet know that well enough in their lives, at least. But they might eventually do so in them, just the same. 

Among those kids now present on the court were Arinori Soruno, Susumu Chiba, and Rumiko Aino. All of them were Caucasian, except for Rumiko, who was Black, having been born to a Ethiopian mother and a Japanese father many years before the present time.

Five of the boys there soon challenged the five girls who were now there to a game of pick-up basketball, to 20 points, with one point per basket. Hikari consulted with Trinity, Karen, Rumiko, and the other girl there briefly, before speaking for them all. "Sure thing, boys. We'll take you on. Prepare to be beaten, then."

Two minutes later, once the court was cleared as needed, the game began. The girls won the tip, and the ball came almost immediately off it to Hikari. She then controlled it for a few seconds, before passing it to the yet-unidentified girl here for the first time. Three seconds after that, Rumiko scored the first basket for the girls here.

It wasn't more than about ten minutes later before the girls had gained a 15-10 lead in the game. Hikari had swished six baskets, Rumiko three, Trinity three, the unidentified girl, who eventually introduced herself as Kagome Rikouno, two, and Karen one, by then, for the girls. The boys' baskets had been scored by Soruno, Chiba, and one other boy, who they later learned was Motoki Senkano. Two other boys hadn't yet scored here, if they would, in the game. Those boys' names were Takumi Higadeshi and Kenji Sakata, by the way.

About ten or so minutes later, after a fierce rally by the boys in the game, the score was then 18-17, in favor of the girls. The girls had the ball, and Chiba was just about to try to steal it from Tsukino. She teased him with the ball a bit, before doing a behind-the-back pass to Rumiko. As Chiba tried to follow her toward the basket, she blew past him, and past Rikouno, who was setting a screen for her against Soruno now. Before he could stop her from getting too close to the basket well enough, Rumiko flashed a quick pass to her here. Tsukino leapt for the ball, as he did the same, and she got to it first. A split second later, then, she went up, over, and around him, dunking the ball with a 720-degree spin as she did so. He couldn't stop her from doing that well enough, as the ball swished through the net, and even fouled her on the way up. The ball landed almost instantly under the basket after passing through it. Hikari and the other girls then with her called a foul almost immediately on Chiba.

"No way, guys. I couldn't have fouled her! She was too fast for me here!"

"Sorry, Chiba-san, but you actually fouled her," said Rumiko. "She gets a chance to sink the game-winning foul shot, now." Rumiko said this as she helped Hikari rise from where she'd landed on her stomach under the basket.

"Fine. She can take the foul shot then. But I still don't think I fouled her just now."

Ten or so seconds later, then, the foul shot swished through the net, ending the game. After Hikari made that shot, Chiba asked, "How did you manage to do that, Tsukino-san?"

"I really don't know, Chiba."

A little while later, the boys and the girls then on the court parted from each other for at least a while, if not a long while. After they did so, Hikari and the girls eventually went to the appropriate locker rooms to shower and change into some more suitable clothes for them all. Especially Hikari, for that matter, who really felt the need to do that then.

Hikari eventually made her way back home, and to her room there. When she got there, it was about 8 in the evening. Mizuki hadn't yet come to Hikari's house. But that wasn't going to be the case for much longer, if Mizuki could find her soon enough. Hikari soon climbed in her bed, and started to nap in it.

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Meanwhile, Mizuki had begun to get a rather strong feeling of potential danger arising somewhere in the local area. And a rather strong feeling of just where Hikari might be, for that matter. The feelings began to strengthen considerably after 7:45, in fact. Some time later, Mizuki found herself quite near the same Athletic Club that Hikari had left only a little while before. When she was able to get a strong enough idea of what might be happening in that area then, or in the very near future, she quite rapidly changed direction. And she set off for Hikari's house just as quickly as she possibly could do that now. 

By 8:30, then, she had found Hikari's house well enough, and climbed a tree outside of Hikari's bedroom window. A few rather brief moments later, then, Mizuki leapt to the nearby windowsill for it. That done, Mizuki soon saw a thick stick on the sill. She took it in her mouth as needed and/or desired, and pried the window open a bit. At least long enough for her to get through it well enough, anyway. Mizuki was on a chair elsewhere in Hikari's room no more than about ten seconds later. She calmly and quietly waited for Hikari to awaken from her nap, before she'd speak to her as needed now.

Hikari woke up at about 8:45 in the evening, local time, and soon saw Mizuki sitting where she'd been for at least the last ten or so minutes. When she did, she asked, "What are you doing here in my room now, kitty? And who are you?"

"I am Mizuki. I have come here because your assistance is now required to fight evil elsewhere in the local area. There is a monster starting to wreak havoc elsewhere in Tokyo, and you seem to be the only one I know of who can fight them. At least at present, anyway."

"This can't be real. A cat can't talk to me, can they?"

"Your assistance is hereby needed, Sailor Moon, to fight this evil that is now arising here. And your assistance is needed for the Princess of the Moon to be found, as well, for that matter. So come along with me now, so that Tokyo and the world aren't destroyed by it, please!"

"How do I know that you're really talking to me, then, furball?"

"I'll prove it to you, by giving you something that should convince you to believe me." Mizuki then jumped a few feet from the chair she'd been on to Hikari's bed. After doing that here, she did a quick somersault and flip, opening a subspace pocket of some sort. While she was still doing the somersault and flip here, a brooch dropped straight down from that pocket above the foot of Hikari's bed. The brooch landed on the bed about two seconds later. On it was a golden crescent moon with the points pointing toward the top of the brooch.

Hikari soon picked up the brooch on her bed, and began to look it over. As soon as she picked it up, a wave of energy suddenly coursed through her rather unexpectedly. Mizuki saw her suddenly hop around, and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I suddenly feel refreshed. Why is that?"

"You just got your first taste of your destiny, Hikari. If you think that you like the first taste of it well enough, then say, 'Moon Prism Power,' and you'll get a good deal more of it, I guarantee you."

"What will that do?" Hikari didn't yet understand what Mizuki was talking about, of course, for the obvious reasons.

"Just wait and see, and you'll know soon enough. Say the designated phrase, and you will begin to know that well enough, Hikari."

"Very well. But if this is a trick you're trying to play on me right now, I certainly will be most upset with you, of course, furball."

"I'm not playing a trick on you." Just then, Hikari quite unexpectedly heard sounds of screaming, et cetera, from a considerable distance away for her.

"What's going on now?"

"I already told you. Do what you need to do, and come with me, Hikari!"

Seeing that she then had no other choice at the current time, Hikari said the necessary transformation phrase. Her clothes began changing immediately, of course. A pillar of gold, silver, and copper light then shrouded her briefly. When it stopped doing so, she was in her entirely brand-new Senshi uniform as Sailor Moon.

From the top of her two-bunned blonde head to the very soles of her feet, then, she was in it. Her Sailor tiara was gold in color. There was a dark blue stone at the base of her tiara. Her choker was dark blue. And so was her Sailor collar, which had two white stripes of piping on it. Her shoulders were also white, as were her bodysuit and elbow-length gloves. A rather simple copper bow was tied just above her collar, and her new brooch was just above the knot in it. Her armbands were both dark blue, and they were at her elbows, where necessary. She wore no belt, for that matter. Her back bow was actually copper, as well, which matched the one under her brooch exactly. Her mid-thigh-length skirt's three main colors were silver, copper, and gold, from waist to hem, with one white stripe between the silver and copper layers of it, and one between the copper and gold layers of it. Her just-shy-of-knee-length boots were silver with gold trim, as well. The top of the boots were each cut in a -style manner, and the trim for each of them was cut in a v-style manner. The base of the v-style trim was at the front of each boot, while the rest of it continued around each leg as necessary.

Hikari, or rather Sailor Moon, soon looked at herself very briefly in her nearest mirror. But not for long, for Mizuki wouldn't let her. Mizuki then went to the window, and began pawing at it, in very short order. Sailor Moon tried to get her to stop that. But Mizuki wouldn't until Sailor Moon opened her window enough for them both to exit out of it.

Five minutes later, at most, they were both running as quickly as they could to the necessary Athletic Club in the area. Mizuki couldn't quite stay caught up with her new charge very easily, of course. But she still did as best as she could here and now, just the same.

A little while later, Sailor Moon arrived at the Athletic Club, and entered it as quietly as she could, when she found its main entrance still unlocked. By the time that she found where the monster was causing trouble, Mizuki had caught up with her again well enough.

A battle ensued, in very short order. The monster, which soon revealed themselves to be female, was now in the process of draining assorted people on and near the court that Hikari had played on earlier. Several basketballs, volleyballs, and assorted other sports-related equipment soon began flying toward Sailor Moon here, after a rather brief speech from Sailor Moon to the monster. Those things came toward Sailor Moon, in short order, no thanks to the monster now causing trouble on that court. Sailor Moon then dodged or caught as many of the things that the monster, who soon identified herself as Guroma, was currently sending her way as she now could. And she sent some of those things back toward it. Of course, she couldn't dodge or catch them all, for the obvious reasons. So she unavoidably found herself taking hits in the battle, periodically, because of Guroma. Just as Guroma was about to try to finish her off, then, a mostly blue rose with some small bits of green and brown on several tips of its petals flashed through the air before landing about halfway between Sailor Moon and Guroma.

When Sailor Moon, Guroma, and Mizuki looked for the person who'd thrown the rose in question, they soon found a young man wearing a simple, yet mysterious, outfit sitting on one of the nearby basketball backboards, with his feet on top of its hoop. This young man wore an outfit that was essentially a gardener's outfit fused with a suit of armor, and this outfit also had him wearing a cape and a half-mask. His outfit was mostly medium blue with green and brown trim, et cetera, on it. And his half-mask was mostly green and brown, with the barest bit of medium blue on it. While his cape mostly matched the rest of his outfit, for that matter.

"This place is a place meant for exercise and fun, and you have sought to ruin people's enjoyment of those kinds of things. For that, Sailor Moon shall destroy you, just as soon as she can. Sailor Moon, banish this evil monster now, and heal these people, so that they can go about what they were doing, please, when this evil showed up here. This evil deserves not to live any longer, in fact. This I, as the Knight of the Earth, so declare. Please do your duty now, Sailor Moon."

"Right, Earth Knight." Mizuki whispered briefly to her, as she began to rise from the floor that she was now on, and Sailor Moon took off her tiara here. Two seconds after she was standing again here, Sailor Moon shouted, "Moon Diadem Strike!" Her tiara struck Guroma about three seconds later, and Guroma couldn't avoid it well enough. The tiara turned Guroma into mere dust no more than a second or two later. That dust briefly remained, and the energy that she'd tried to gain for the Negaverse began returning to its proper owners as needed, while it still did so. Once all that energy was unquestionably back where it should be for all the people that had been drained on and near that basketball court, that dust vanished from the area, never to be seen again. At least not for that monster from the Negaverse, anyway.

After that happened, the young man said, "Well done, Sailor Moon. I must congratulate you on your first victory against evil here. I look forward to our next meeting."

"What do you mean, Earth Knight?" The Earth Knight then leapt to the floor below the basketball backboard he'd just been sitting on, doing a full somersault while doing so, by the way. He landed near where his rose had earlier landed, and soon picked it up. After he did so, all the battle-related damage that had been done while Sailor Moon and Guroma were still fighting repaired itself. And everything that wasn't where it had been before Guroma had first attacked Sailor Moon was back where it should be on and near the court, for that matter.

"I shall aid you in battle whenever I possibly can in the future, Sailor Moon. For this monster, I feel, is only the start of what we and others may have to face together in it. Until next time, then, I suppose we should part from each other now."

"Who are you, really?"

"You will learn, in time, no doubt. But just not yet. For we've only just met here. You don't expect me to give up all my secrets that easily, do you? Or to tell me all of yours, for that matter?" He neared one of the doors by the end of the court with the backboard he'd sat on, even while briefly smiling at her here.

"No, I suppose not."

"Then, Sailor Moon, I'll be on my way, and I'll look forward to our next meeting, if you don't mind too much here."

"Fine, if you feel you must, then go. But I'll find out just who you are, Earth Knight. You can be sure of that." She didn't want him to go yet, of course. But she realized he still would do so, just the same.

"Sure you will, Sailor Moon. But just not yet." Without another word, then, the Earth Knight left the scene just as soon as he could, through whatever door he could do so now. Sailor Moon and Mizuki watched him leave briefly before noticing that the other people now near them both were starting to stir considerably here.

So they left almost immediately, for all the obvious reasons, of course. And they did that now with not another word being exchanged from them both here, for that matter. At least not while they were still inside the Athletic Club, anyway. After they were safely enough away from it, and where nobody else could see, hear, or detect them well enough, Sailor Moon eventually became just Hikari again. Then she said, "Let's go home, kitty with a bald spot on her head."

Mizuki said, only when she was sure it was safe enough for her to do so, on the way back to Hikari's, "I'm going to tell you this once, and only once, if I possibly can, Hikari. I don't have a bald spot. It is a birthmark, showing that I am a special cat. And that I've promised to serve the Moon Princess, whoever she may be. Get it through your head, if you can, just as soon as possible. It will probably save you quite a bit of trouble in the future when you're dealing with me, if you can do that well enough in your life."

Not too much later, then, the two of them arrived under Hikari's window. They both soon returned to Hikari's bedroom just as they'd earlier left it. Hikari soon hid Mizuki under her bed, for lack of a better place to hide her at present, for the obvious reasons. And then she went in search of food and drink for herself, seeing as the events of the just-ended battle had obviously kept her from having supper with the rest of her family. A little while after doing that, then, Hikari went right to bed, once she was tired enough to do so well enough, in fact. She was quite soundly asleep after doing so. And lost in any number of dreams in her bed, when that happened well enough for her here, for that matter.

She wasn't yet sufficiently aware of just how much her own mortal life had now changed, of course. But in due time, she would come to learn that in her life. And realize that her life as she'd once known it to be was over once and for all, for that matter. Never again, in fact, would it be as uneventful as it had generally been for her and others close to her, which was quite uneventful indeed.

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The next chapter of this particular story will be up soon enough here, if at all possible. If you have any good enough ideas for possible pairings of the main characters, as long as they are male-female in nature, I'm quite willing to hear them, in fact. I really hope that you all might come to enjoy this story and its related series quite a bit, of course. Please read and review quite constructively, if at all possible, quite often, if and whenever you might so choose, people. Until later, then, this is The Universal Storyteller saying, "Over and out!" 


	3. Chapter Two

Sailor Moon and all related characters or concepts, et cetera, belong to Naoko Takeuchi and all sufficiently related parties, unless otherwise stated. However, in this version of things, at least, all the Senshi/Scouts, et cetera, who are from the main dimension of this story series are MINE, and only MINE, unless I say otherwise here. While the Senshi/Scouts in this story and its series may actually use the exact same combat identities as the canon Senshi/Scouts, they're not necessarily the same as them in their respective lives, for your information. Please do try to keep that in mind while you read this story and any others that might follow it in its series, people.

Now with no further ado, let's get on with the story here, if we may. And I really hope that you enjoy it quite a lot, of course, everyone. Please read and review often, then, in quite constructive manners, if and whenever possible and desired. This is The Universal Storyteller now saying, "Over and out!"

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Chapter Two

The following day, many students at Hikari's Tokyo-area school were all abuzz about the events of the previous night. Among those people who were all abuzz about them were Hikari's friend Karen, who was a girl with black waist-length hair normally worn completely unbound. Trinity didn't attend the same school as Karen and Hikari did in the area, however.

When Karen found Hikari right after they'd gotten to their lockers in the school, she asked Hikari if she already knew about those events. Hikari, of course, did know about them. Quite well, in fact. But she couldn't say that here, for the obvious reasons. Hikari asked, "What are you talking about, Karen?"

"There was a mysterious young superheroine who showed up at the Athletic Club last night. She fought a monster for a while, it seems, and she wasn't the only one that did so. Rumor has it that there was a cute guy there as well, who also participated in that battle, for that matter."

"Oh, is that so? What did he look like, then, supposedly?" Karen was often quite interested in boys in her life, by the way. As Hikari asked her those questions, Karen fingered the navy blue bow tied just above the knot in her school uniform's sailor collar briefly.

"He was, from what I've heard of him so far, a brown-haired guy with gorgeous green eyes, and who was of about moderate height and weight."

"Oh, really? What's his name, if I may so ask, then, Karen?" asked Hikari, as she took some textbooks out of her locker now.

"I believe he introduced himself as the Knight of the Earth, from what I've heard of him so far. He sent a blue rose between Sailor Moon and the monster she was then fighting, according to my friend Natsumi Hino, who happened to be at the Athletic Club when the battle was going on."

What neither Karen, Natsumi, or Hikari yet knew in their lives was that Natsumi Hino would eventually be part of a rather good-sized circle of friends. Karen knew both Natsumi and Hikari, but not Soruno, Rikouno, Chiba, Aino, or Senkano., well enough in her life. At least not yet, for the last five of those people, if she ever would, anyway.

Hikari didn't actually know Natsumi or the rest of her fellow future Senshi well enough yet in her life, but that wouldn't always remain for her in it. She'd eventually get to know them all quite well in the future, once enough things happened for her in it, for that matter. Including the Senshi who'd actually happen to call themselves certain Knights, that'd eventually be the case for her, just as soon as she possibly could do that well enough, by the way.

Minutes later, then, Karen and Hikari parted for at least a little while, for their first class period of the school day wasn't one that they'd share with each other here. Hikari shut her locker door, in very short order, and set off for her World History class after doing so.

When she entered the necessary classroom, there were already fifteen other students and the teacher present in it. It was now just about two minutes before the class was due to start. Most specifically, it was now just a few seconds before 8:18 in the morning, local time. She soon sat down in her assigned seat, as the bell to begin the class rang here.

Hikari wasn't the only current or future Knight or Sailor to actually be present in the class here. There were two others present as well. But neither they nor her knew that yet in their lives. They'd learn that when the proper time or times came for them to in them, but just not yet, anyway.

Hikari was in the column closest to the right as the class faced the teacher, a Mrs. Toyomokashi, here. She was in the seat just in front of the back right corner of the sixteen-student arrangement. Kagome was in the front right corner, and Natsumi was in the back left corner.

The students were arranged in columns, from front to back, based on the alphabetical order of their surnames. Hitomaru Asari, Romi Egami, Katai Harada, and Natsumi Hino were in the column farthest to the left as the class faced the roughly 35-year-old teacher. Hitomaru and Katai were the males in the first column, while Romi and Natsumi were the females in it. The second column, which was directly to the right of the first, consisted of Yuka Hirota, Seihachi Hokusai, Ryutaro Joshuyo, and Sakura Mitsuya. The males in the column were Seihachi and Ryutaro, while the females were Yuka and Sakura, in it. The third column, which was directly to the right of the second, consisted of Namboku Miyoshi, Kagehisa Nogushi, Mai Ochida, and Shoichi Okuma. The males in the column were Namboku, Kagehisa, and Shoichi, while the female in it was Mai. As for the fourth and last column, which was directly to the right of the third, it consisted of Kagome Rikouno, Shigetaka Sotomura, Hikari Tsukino, and Misa Ushiba. The male in the column was Shigetaka, while the females in it were Kagome, Hikari, and Misa.

When everyone was settled well enough into their desks in the room, Mrs. Toyomokashi then began her lecture. She lectured for a while about a war that had taken place about 150 or so years before between the Japanese and Chinese Empires. After doing so for about 20 minutes, with a little discussion between her and her students during it, she assigned them some homework related to the topic that she'd just lectured them on here. Hikari really didn't like the thought of having to write a ten to fifteen-page report due in about a week about what Mrs. Toyomokashi had just lectured their class about here. But she realized that she'd still have to do it, anyway. World History wasn't exactly one of her favorite subjects in school, in fact. Her favorite subjects in school were Physical Education, Arts and Crafts, and English II, by the way.

Just as soon as Mrs. Toshi, as many of her students called her with her willing consent, let them do so, then, everyone began to work on their newest assignment in her World History class. And they all began grouping together as they then saw fit, just as soon as Mrs. Toshi let them do that as well here. Hikari then grouped herself with Romi and Ryutaro, in fact. For a while, Hikari, Romi, and Ryutaro congregated with each other as needed or desired here. But only until about five minutes before the end of the class now in question, for that matter. When there were only about five minutes left in the class, they each returned to their respective desks in the room. And they began getting ready to leave it again when necessary, of course.

When the bell rang, they all left the room here as necessary and/or desired. Hikari soon set off for her next class, which was her Arts and Crafts class, in fact. She was there just about a minute before her next class period was due to begin. As the bell rang to begin it, she then moved right to her assigned cubicle in the room, and began taking out certain arts-related materials from it. Mostly paint tubes, a palette, and assorted brushes, by the way. After she collected all the necessary items from her cubicle, she then quickly donned an apron of sorts. This was the case for her, so as to hopefully protect her school uniform from paint stains, et cetera, while she was working at her assigned place in the main art room here, of course.

Five minutes into the period, she was at her easel, preparing a new canvas for painting on. She prepared the canvas rather quickly, and it was ready for painting on within the first ten minutes of the period. After it was, she put several colors of paint on her palette as she saw fit to. Then she sat down on a stool near her easel, and began briefly sketching just a few things and people on her canvas in pencil as the need or desire for her to do that arose for her here. Two minutes after she began sketching those things and people on her canvas, at most, she then set her pencil aside, and took up one of her brushes. She soon began painting at least the basic background, if not all of it, for the scene she then had in mind for that painting here, when she did so. The basic background for the scene was a garden on the grounds of a palace. Which palace it was, and what its name was, or would be, she didn't yet know, if she ever would, for that matter. It then took her about ten minutes more for her to do that well enough to suit her sufficiently enough here. After she was sufficiently satisfied with how the background of the painting then looked, she began painting the rest of the painting here as much as she could. It would take her a while, most likely, to complete the entire painting. A painting like the one that she had just started normally took her a few days, at least, if not even longer than that. Her most recent painting had only been completed in the last two weeks, during her summer vacation from school.

.By the time that the period was about five minutes from ending, she was about five to ten percent done with the painting, at most. She reluctantly began cleaning her brushes and other related things as needed, before putting a cover over her current painting, for the obvious reasons. All of her arts-related materials were quite definitely back in her assigned cubicle before the official end of the class period. Except for her current painting and her easel, of course.

When the bell rang, she left the main art room in very short order. And she set off for her third class period of the day, not long after that, obviously enough. Karen was one of her classmates for it, and it was a Chemistry-type class, in fact. They then had that class together, and it was one of the only two that they had with each other during a typical school day at Chrysanthemum Trekker Academy, for that matter. The other was English II, by the way. They would also periodically eat lunch with each other, whenever possible.

The class went as it normally might for the rest of the school year, then. It was over at 10:50, after running for 45 minutes exactly. When it ended, the students in that class soon set off for their next class or classes, whatever it or they might be. Their fourth class period of the school day would run from 10:55 to 11:40. For Hikari, that class would be English II, in fact. So she and Karen basically stayed together in between their third-period and fourth-period classes here.

Fourth period soon came and went for them both, and another good-sized assignment soon joined the ever-growing list of homework that she'd obviously have to attend to later. This particular assignment of hers for English II would then require her to write at least one story of at least fifty pages in length every calendar month of the school year, in fact. Each story would then be due on the first available class day of each month, whenever possible, for that matter. For the most part, if not entirely, each student in that class was generally free to write whatever kind of story or stories they might actually want to write in order to meet the terms of their monthly writing assignments, by the way.

After the teacher had given the aforementioned assignment to everyone in the class no more than ten minutes into it, they let their students begin to work on it as they then saw fit. Hikari brainstormed for a while, and soon came up with the idea to write a great adventure to the best of her current ability to do so here. By the time the period ended, she had already jotted at least fifty to one hundred ideas for possible inclusion in her story to at least some degree, if not to a considerable degree, for them all. If not even more than that, in fact.

After the period ended, Hikari and everyone else left the applicable classroom, and soon began heading toward the school's main cafeteria area. Hikari stayed essentially with Karen as she did so, for that matter. On the way there, they happened to encounter Chiba again. Chiba was a fellow 8th Grader, and he was just about two or so weeks older than Hikari was now. He had been born on June 12, while she was born on June 30. Both of them had been born in 1976, in fact.

Chiba was about 5'8" and about 150 pounds, more or less, at the current time. He had shoulder-length thick brown hair and green eyes. He was rather intelligent, and filled out his own school uniform rather well. He was now wearing a mostly navy blue uniform jacket, matching trousers, and black business-style shoes with black heels and soles, as was normally required for male students at CTA. A pair of light-sensing sunglasses completed his current look.

When Hikari and Karen encountered him on the way to lunch, he soon asked, "Tsukino-san, would you mind having lunch with me today?"

"I don't know, Chiba-san. Why do you ask?" Hikari was quite curious about that here, of course.

"Because I was challenged to by a few of my classmates after they saw you earlier today. I don't know you, of course, though." Chiba frowned, as he said those things now, in fact.

"And if you don't eat lunch with me, then what?" Hikari then began to get upset. Though she didn't show it just yet here, if she would do so later, anyway.

"I have to give them my lunch money for the next week, starting tomorrow."

"If you do, then what?" More anger began building up under the surface here for her, though it was still quite hidden now.

"They'll leave me alone for a month. It's a rather long story, to tell you the truth. One I don't have time to get in with you at this time, of course."

"I see. Well, then, I suppose you might as well join us for lunch, Chiba-san." Hikari's anger would eventually boil over, if given enough of a chance. And when it finally did, whoever might be the cause of it would probably have a rather irate girl on their hands for a good length of time. At least until her sense of justice was sufficiently satisfied, anyway. She was quite slow to let her temper boil over, but whenever it did, it was quite intense in the force of its explosion. Very rarely, in fact, had it ever done so in her life, if at all. At least so far for her in it, by the way.

So Susumu joined Karen and Hikari for lunch in very short order. It was a rather calm and rather uneventful lunch for them all, in fact. But it was still the first of what might eventually prove to be many more in the future. At least for Susumu and Hikari, anyway, if not also for Karen as well.

After lunch was sufficiently over for them all, Karen, Susumu, and Hikari soon parted from each other as they needed to here. Karen and Hikari wouldn't actually be in the same classes as each other for the rest of the school day. However, Susumu would see Hikari again at least once more in class for the rest of it. For he was in Hikari's Physical Education class.

The three of them parted for a while, at least, and Hikari soon went to her Japanese 8 class. That class ran from 12:15 to 1 pm local time every day. In it, she encountered yet another future Senshi or Knight. That classmate of hers was Arinori Soruno, by the way. But neither of them yet knew that, for they'd not yet gotten to know each other well enough in their respective lives. In time, they would do so, but just not yet, for reasons they weren't yet aware of here at all.

Hikari would eventually come to find herself fighting evil along with several Senshi and Knights in the future. Just how soon into the future she'd actually do that somehow was yet-unknown, of course. But it still would happen in it, just the same. That was if, and whenever, the need then actually arose for her to do that, anyway. She would be Sailor Moon, while the other fighters in her group would represent other celestial bodies in the solar system as the need arose for them to do so at all, in fact.

For most, if not all, of her fifth-period class, she and everyone else in the applicable classroom here then spoke or wrote in Japanese, whenever the need arose for them to do so now. That was one of the class rules that the teacher had established for the class the previous day. For those that didn't have a Japanese name in actual reality, those students had to choose one for themselves, at least as it pertained to their participation in the class. There were three non-Japanese in the class, two of which were from Austria, and one which was from Kenya. The Austrians in the class were fraternal twins of opposite genders, in fact.

When her Japanese 8 class finally ended, Hikari soon set off for the appropriate locker room elsewhere in the school She changed into her P.E. uniform in very short order, and was in the school's main gymnasium no more than five minutes after the beginning of the period, for that matter. The school's main basketball court was currently divided mostly in half with a narrow opening between both halves of it. That was so as to allow the teachers of each half of the students in the class to associate with each other to some degree, for the obvious reasons. Half of the class consisted of males, and half of females. A teacher of each gender then handled the appropriate half of the class as the need arose for them to here, of course.

The woman in charge of the girls in the class soon had them doing some volleyball playing with each other over a net that ran nearly from the middle of the court to about where the basketball hoop on the girls' end of the court was. She split the girls into two teams of eight, and chose six girls at random for each team to start playing volleyball with each other. For most of the rest of the period, then, the girls periodically played against or with each other, as the case might be for each of them here. About ten minutes before the end of the period, then, the woman teacher dismissed them to their own locker room, for the obvious reasons.

On the other side of the divider, all the boys in the class soon began playing floor hockey with each other, after the male teacher had chosen up the two teams as he'd seen fit to do that here. This then continued for most of the remaining class period, in fact. When it got to about ten minutes before the end of the period, then, all of the boys in the class were also dismissed to their own locker room, just as soon as the male teacher chose to do that here.

After both groups were dismissed to their respective locker rooms, the divider's two halves were pushed back into their usual storage positions elsewhere in the gymnasium. And both teachers got to talking briefly with each other here, before parting to make sure their respective charges did all the necessary things in those locker rooms. They decided to have both halves of the class start to practice dancing the second Monday of the school year, by the way. Which probably wouldn't please a good number of their students, but they still did that now, just the same.

Hikari quickly showered and changed back into her regular school uniform, so that she could go to her next class period, of course. Her next class period, was, in fact, her study hall period. She would often go to the school's library during it, if and whenever she could do that well enough during a typical school day. She did that on this day, for that matter, after the study hall teacher let her do so. Hikari then spent most of the period doing research for her soon-to-be due World History paper. If not also for her first monthly story in her English II class, while she was at it. She returned to her study hall's classroom about five minutes before the end of the period. And she stayed there until the bell rang to end that period for her.

After that, she soon set off for her last class of the school day. Which, in her particular case here, just happened to be Algebra I. It was a class of the kind that she was moderately good in, but not great in. She normally averaged about a B-minus grade in her mathematics-related classes, and she expected to do the same for all four quarters of the just-begun school year. Her best classes were also her favorite kinds of classes, and her worst classes were classes like World History, for example. This had been the case for her most, if not all, of her previous school career, for that matter. Whether it'd always be was yet-unknown by her and anyone who was or might be close enough to her in her life, for the obvious reasons.

The Algebra I class went well enough for her here and now, however. A short assignment of several problems joined the list of things she'd have to work on doing later, when she did her homework again that evening or night. She got out of that class, finally, at 3:30 pm, and soon headed right to her hall locker. A few minutes after that, and after briefly conversing with Karen again, she then left the school's grounds for the rest of the day.

Hikari then headed toward an arcade/restaurant where she worked three days a week after school. She generally worked there for three hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, whenever possible for her. The name of this establishment was the _Millennium Station_, and she currently worked there as a waitress. She had worked there for about two months, after being hired as a waitress on her last birthday. When she got there, she soon went to a changing room elsewhere in the establishment briefly. In that changing room, once she was sufficiently alone there, she then changed her clothes as needed. She changed out of her CTA school uniform into the typical duty uniform for the arcade/restaurant's female staff, of course. She quickly changed into a futuristic-looking uniform of sorts, before leaving the changing room again. This uniform for her consisted of a bright red tunic with a matching side-closure jacket of sorts, as well as a mostly black knee-length skirt that now bore the establishment's logo near the hem of it, over a pair of mostly black leather ankle boots. There were gold epaulets on the jacket's shoulders, and pins indicating her current position with the establishment on top of those epaulets, for that matter.

She left the changing room again by 4:05, and went right to work. She began preparing several tables in her assigned area of the establishment for eventual use that same evening and night. The first patrons began arriving at the arcade/restaurant at about 4:30, and she found herself quite busy indeed, not too long after that happened, here. She attended to those tables as needed, whenever she could. Fifty patrons or so, and about four hours, later, then, she called it a day, with the equivalent of about $150 in total tips for her shift, more or less.

After changing back into her school uniform, from her work uniform, she herself left the establishment in very short order. She arrived back at her family's residence by 9, at the very latest. When she did so, she soon stashed away her just-earned money from tips in a small safe on her desk. After she did that, she soon went in search of Mizuki. For she'd not seen Mizuki since that morning, of course. On the way out the front door, she happened to encounter her sisters Kiku and Sakura. They asked her how her day was, and she told them, "It was fine enough, I suppose, girls. It could have been better, though, I'm sure."

"Where are you going, if we may ask you that now, Hi-chan?"

"I'm going walking, I think. Please tell Mom and Dad I might be back around 11 or so, okay?"

"That's kind of late for you, isn't it?"

"They know that I normally go walking for a while after getting home from work at _MS_, you two. They don't normally expect me to be home on my workdays until then, at the earliest. Just so you know that well enough here again, kids."

"Fine. We'll let them know your plans, if at all possible, for the rest of the night, then, Hi-chan," said Kiku, a few seconds, at most, later. After Kiku said that, Hikari left her family's residence behind for a while, as she'd already planned to do here.

After walking for about an hour, more or less, Hikari eventually found Mizuki about half a mile away from her family's residence. When she did, Hikari asked, once it was safe enough for her to do that here, "What in the world are you doing, Mizuki?"

"I'm exploring the area, and claiming territory for myself in it, if I can do either of those things well enough. Where have you been? I've also been looking for you most of the afternoon, evening, and night, for your information."

"I was at school, at work, and then back home briefly."

"I see. When does school end for you?" They continued walking with each other, and familiarizing themselves with each other and the general area as they did so here. Especially Mizuki, for the obvious reasons. By the time they started turning toward Hikari's residence again, Mizuki had claimed at least part of her future territory in the area, in whatever means necessary, of course.

"Normally 3:30 in the afternoon, if I'm not staying behind for any reason, such as detention or other after-school related activities. I generally work after school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for at least three hours, as a waitress at a local establishment. If you're around me long enough, you'll come to be better acquainted with how things are for me now in my life, I'm sure."

"I see. Well, when do you want me to start training you as a Senshi? You'll probably find that other monsters will be more difficult to deal with than the one you faced last night, Hikari, if I'm not too mistaken about such things here."

"Could we start on Saturday?"

"Why?"

"Because I have school the next two days, and one night of work in that length of time."

"The monsters may not allow you to fight only on a certain schedule, Hikari. They could attack at any possible time of the day or night, for your information. The sooner we start to train, the sooner we might be better prepared to deal with them well enough. Until the others show up to help you, you and I may be the only sentients sufficiently able to deal with them now."

"What others?"

"There are other Senshi out there, I'm sure, who haven't yet been found and awakened as such, who might be able to help you. And perhaps even at least a few Knights, for that matter." They were then about a block or two, at most, away from Hikari's residence, as Mizuki just said those things here.

The rest of the walking all the way back there for them both was then spent mostly, if not entirely, in relative silence. Even as Hikari thought about all the things that they'd discussed just now with each other. By the time that Hikari and Mizuki arrived in her room again, everyone else in Hikari's family was quite soundly asleep in their respective beds. Before Hikari began studying for about an hour or so, she first rather quickly set up a litter box, a bowl of food, and a bowl or water, under her bed for Mizuki. And she told Mizuki to be very quiet there, for all the obvious reasons, in fact.

Hikari did all of her homework that she then could do here from about 11:15 to about 12:15, before changing into some sleepwear for herself. By the time she stopped studying for a while, Mizuki herself was already quite soundly asleep under her bed. By 12:30, then, Hikari herself had set her alarm clock for 6:30 in the morning. And she'd fallen asleep in her bed as well. Quite soundly asleep in it, for that matter, of course.

She wouldn't rise again from her bed until just after her alarm clock sounded for her. But when she did, she would be quite refreshed. Especially because of the fact that just before climbing into her bed, she'd put her new brooch on her bedside table, in fact. It quite often would help her gain more energy as she slept, if and whenever it could then do that well enough. Just how it'd do that, and how well it'd do that, wasn't exactly known at the present time, if it ever would be. But it still would do so, if and whenever it could possibly do that at all, just the same.

* * *

The next chapter of this particular story will be up soon enough here, if at all possible. If you have any good enough ideas for possible pairings of the main characters, as long as they are male-female in nature, I'm quite willing to hear them, in fact. I really hope that you all might come to enjoy this story and its related series quite a bit, of course. Please read and review quite constructively, if at all possible, quite often, if and whenever you might so choose, people. Until later, then, this is The Universal Storyteller saying, "Over and out!" 


	4. Chapter Three

Sailor Moon and all related characters or concepts, et cetera, belong to Naoko Takeuchi and all sufficiently related parties, unless otherwise stated. However, in this version of things, at least, all the Senshi/Scouts, et cetera, who are from the main dimension of this story series are MINE, and only MINE, unless I say otherwise here. While the Senshi/Scouts in this story and its series may actually use the exact same combat identities as the canon Senshi/Scouts, they're not necessarily the same as them in their respective lives, for your information. Please do try to keep that in mind while you read this story and any others that might follow it in its series, people.

Now with no further ado, let's get on with the story here, if we may. And I really hope that you enjoy it quite a lot, of course, everyone. Please read and review often, then, in quite constructive manners, if and whenever possible and desired. This is The Universal Storyteller now saying, "Over and out!"

* * *

Chapter Three

The following afternoon, after school was over for her, Hikari went to a park elsewhere in her part of Tokyo, Japan. Which was a specific part of it called "Shiranai Engoku Seito Tsuki," in Japanese. She currently thought that "Strange Distant Star Moon" might be how those Japanese words might translate most accurately into English. She went there to just relax for a while, or at least as much as she could do that at the present time. It was just about 4:15 in the afternoon when she got there. And the park was somewhat empty at the moment. But it wouldn't always remain so. For many people hadn't yet gotten off work or come there after school in their respective lives.

She would often go there on Thursdays after school to enjoy herself among the assorted plants and animals that were there. And she would sometimes even bring assorted reading material with her when she did so. Hikari came to a bench near a marble chess table of sorts, and then took out a book from her school backpack. The book in question that she took out of her backpack was a mystery novel set in contemporary times. At least for the most part, anyway. She read it, while sitting on that bench in the park, for about half an hour. Others eventually entered the park as well. Including Arinori Soruno, for that matter.

However, when Soruno passed by her in the park, he decided to try to steal her book away from her here. He soon swiped it, and scurried off with it just as fast as he could to another place in the park. Of course, she wasn't very happy with him after he did so. She then gathered up all her things rather quickly, and set off in hot pursuit of him in the park, for the obvious reasons.

As she was still in hot pursuit of him, she suddenly encountered Mizuki. She didn't stop pursuing Soruno, even as Mizuki began running alongside her here, until she unexpectedly heard some considerable sounds of screaming coming from elsewhere in the park. When she heard them, she quite quickly asked, "What in the world is going on now?"

"Sounds like another attack, Hikari. I suppose you'd best power up just as soon as you can, of course. Find a place to do so well enough, if you can, so that we can get to work here well enough, please!"

Without any further urging from Mizuki, then, Hikari flashed into the nearest empty ladies' restroom. As soon as it was safe enough for her to do so now, she powered up, and became Sailor Moon. That done, she flashed out of that restroom just as quickly as she'd flashed into it. And she picked up Mizuki, as they headed straight for where the trouble seemed to then be coming from elsewhere in the park here.

Two minutes, at most, later, then, she was already in front of a newly-unleashed Negaverse monster, and finishing a rather brief speech of sorts to them there. Mizuki had been unable to stay with her while they'd been running to where the trouble now was in the park. So Sailor Moon was currently alone there for at least a little while. And she was then facing a monster called Thildoron elsewhere in the park. Thildoron now looked like some rather bizarre combination of assorted Terran plants, at least in terms of their currently-apparent fighting uniform. They now had a mostly humanoid head, two arms, two hands, two legs, and two feet, in fact. But the rest of them looked quite plant-like, for that matter. Sailor Moon and Thildoron began fighting shortly thereafter, with Thildoron doing most of the early attacks in the battle. Sailor Moon mainly held back on her attacks as she probed for an exploitable weakness, but still took some hits in the battle, for the obvious reasons here. "You won't win, you Negaverse monster! I shall not permit you to do that here, if I can possibly avoid doing so at all!"

Ten minutes or so into the fight, then, Sailor Moon was down on her knees, and Thildoron was about to try to execute even more dangerous attacks against her here. But before Thildoron could do so often enough, and well enough, two roses came from different directions elsewhere in the park, and landed between Sailor Moon and Thildoron. One was exactly like the one that had been present during Hikari's first battle as Sailor Moon. The other was mostly orange with yellow and black tips on it, where possible. When both Thildoron and Sailor Moon looked for the throwers of both roses, they soon saw two young men standing directly opposite each other on top of nearby statues.

One of those two, of course, was the Earth Knight. The other, who Sailor Moon and others would come to know well enough of in the future, soon identified himself as Sun Knight. He said, "As the Sun shines on the Moon, I shall not allow you to destroy this shining heart, you evil monster! Be prepared to be scorched by the Sun and the Moon, in short order! Pick up the orange rose, Sailor Moon, and be refreshed, so that you can make this enemy of yours shrivel up and die!"

"Hey, I'm here to save her, Sun Knight!" The Earth Knight said, "Take my rose, and you'll be able to vanquish her as well!"

Sailor Moon looked at both roses, and then moved toward them both. As she did so, Thildoron backed away, not knowing what to expect yet. And fearing for her continued existence, once she saw a great deal of determination flicker briefly in Sailor Moon's eyes, for that matter. Sailor Moon touched both roses, and picked them up. She studied them momentarily, and then suddenly touched her tiara with them. After doing that, she said, "Thildoron, you are to die! Knights, thank you for the brief use of your roses! Now it is time for me to do my duty, it seems." With those things then said, she fired off her attack once more. Thildoron dissolved almost instantly afterward, briefly turning to dust when she did so. After she was dusted, Sailor Moon soon stood as part of an equilateral triangle in front of both Knights. She tossed the Knights' respective roses toward them as then necessary here. After she did that here, all the damage that'd just been caused in the course of the battle's fighting immediately began repairing itself as needed as best as it then could do that well enough. She then said, "Knights, there actually isn't any need for you to fight about who should protect me right now, if there ever will be. Why fight among each other when there is more evil that will undoubtedly appear, and when our futures are still quite unknown to us all? I'm sure that there will be plenty of chance for you both to aid me in battle in the future. So let's not fight with each other right now, if ever, please."

"Fine. But I still helped you first, Sailor Moon," said Earth Knight.

"That may be so, Earth Knight. But I now have this rather strange feeling that Sun Knight's help will often be needed in the future, whenever monsters might appear to try to cause trouble around here. So, as the senior fighter here, I hereby request you both to stop arguing with each other about who is supposed to protect me more and better. At least for right now, anyway. Please do so, for I have this feeling I often will need help from either or both of you in the future."

"Fine, Sailor Moon. We won't fight here, if at all. At least not right now, anyway. But I still claim first position at your side, just the same," said Earth Knight.

"We'll see who earns that position with me, if anyone ever does. But for now, at least, I hereby request that you don't fight with each other about it. Is that clear, Knights?"

"As you wish, Sailor Moon," said Sun Knight.

"Then it's settled, at least for the time being, I hope."

"Very well, Sailor Moon," said Earth Knight, just a few seconds later. "I look forward to our next battle alongside each other, then."

"As do I," said Sun Knight. "You seem to have fought quite well, Sailor Moon. May I be so fortunate to often aid you in the future, if and whenever possible, then."

"If things work out well enough, then may I often be able to fight alongside you both in the future, of course. But for now, at least, let's all get out of her before others start to show up well enough around us."

"Very well, Sailor Moon," both of them said at the same time, after both then saw a very determined expression on her face that let them both know in no uncertain terms she'd brook no further delay from them in doing just that now. Just as quickly as they'd shown up, they then parted from her. As they did so, all the dust that'd shown up when Sailor Moon had just dusted Thildoron vanished in the exact same way as the dust had vanished after her first battle with Guroma about two days before. And all the damage that'd been caused during the battle finished repairing itself as well, for that matter.

After they left, Mizuki suddenly appeared from out behind a large bush, where she'd eventually hidden during the battle that Sailor Moon had just fought with Thildoron. She asked, just as soon as she could do that safely enough here, "Are you fine, Sailor Moon?"

"Thanks to the Knights' roses, I actually am. Even though that monster was considerably tougher to deal with than Guroma was in my previous battle, I must say."

"So now we have two Knights that have shown up at your battles, it seems."

"Yes, it seems so, Mizuki. I wonder which one will be the one who matches up best with me in the future, whenever we're fighting alongside each other."

"Only time will tell, I feel, my still-young charge. In the meantime, I suggest you power down just as soon as you can do that safely enough here in the park, for the obvious reasons." Sailor Moon nodded almost instantly, in complete comprehension about her current situation, in fact. Just as soon as she could do that well enough, she flashed into the nearest empty and available ladies' restroom, and powered down just as quickly as she'd earlier powered up in it. For it was the exact same one she'd powered up in at that certain time, for that matter. When she did so well enough, and safely enough, she then left it in rather short order.

After doing that, Hikari remembered almost immediately what she'd been doing when she'd heard the earlier screams elsewhere in the park. She remembered that she'd been chasing Soruno after he'd swiped her book. So she told Mizuki, "Go back home, and I'll see you later. I have a book to try to get back now, if you don't mind too much." Mizuki didn't want to leave her behind, but Hikari gave her no choice in the matter. Or at least not any current choice at all, anyway. Rather reluctantly, then, Mizuki did as she'd just been told here.

After Mizuki did as ordered, Hikari then resumed her search for Soruno elsewhere in the park. She eventually found him, and he was sitting on top of a picnic shelter there, reading her book. When she spotted him, she began climbing the nearest tree to it, hoping to get close enough to the picnic shelter's roof to be able to leap onto it as well. But she wasn't able to get closer to him than about five or so feet away. For the limb she ended up on in that tree wasn't strong enough to support her weight easily enough to permit her closer to him right now.

As soon as he saw where she was in the tree, he laughed at her a bit. She began getting even more upset at him when he did that. She called out to him, "Give me back my book! You had no right to take it from me, you orange-haired freak of nature!"

"What, Popcorn Head?" He grinned at her, in a quite teasing manner, after asking her that here.

"Give me back my book, Tiger-hair!"

"Why should I? I happen to like this author quite a bit, in fact. I don't want to give it back to you right now, for that matter."

"Because it's my book, that's why!" He continued to tease her as she yelled that at him, by the way. Such as by sticking out his tongue at her, for example.

"I don't see your name in it. It seems to be a library book. Which means it can't be your book, apparently, Popcorn Head!" She tried to figure out how to make it well enough and safe enough to the nearby picnic shelter's roof, but she was still unable to do that well enough now.

"Believe me, I checked it out from the local library. And if I don't bring it back just as I got it, I'll have to pay for the damage or loss of it. And I don't really want to, if I don't have to. So give me back my book!"

"No. Make me, if you can. You're trapped there, it seems. You can't get even closer to me while you're still trapped in that tree, evidently."

"When I get a good enough hold on you, you're going to pay, if I can make you do that well enough, Tiger-Hair! You can be absolutely sure about that, in fact!"

"I dare you to try and get me off this roof and get your book back in the process. If you'd kiss me, I might just let you have this book back, for that matter."

"Kiss you, Tiger-Hair? Don't make me laugh! I'd rather kiss a bear than kiss you!"

"So you must not really want this book back. Okay, I think I'll keep it for a while, then." Two minutes or so later, at most, then, he leapt off the roof and landed on the other side of the picnic shelter from her. And he then fled the scene, with her soon following in hot pursuit, just as soon as she could do that well enough. However, she lost him elsewhere after they'd both left the park behind at full speed. Hikari followed him as quickly as she could, for as long as she could, before she lost him in a considerably large crowd near a martial arts training center. After she realized that was the case, at least at present for her, she reluctantly gave up her pursuit of him here. But she'd resume it again, if and whenever she could, in the future, until she got back what he'd taken from her just now, of course.

After she gave up her pursuit of Soruno, at least for the time being, she began heading back toward her residence elsewhere in her neighborhood. On the way back there, she unintentionally collided with Chiba, who was then wearing a green jacket, a blue sweater, and a pair of trousers that matched his sweater, over a pair of black sneakers, As well as the same sunglasses that he'd been wearing when she'd seen him at lunch the day before at school, for that matter. She had her head down, and wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, after having lost Soruno in a rather large crowd a little while before. It was now almost 6:30 or so in the evening, by the way.

Chiba said, as he leaned over to pick up the backpack that had just fallen off her back here, "I see it's Miss Flash that I've just run into here. She seems distracted."

As soon as her brain recognized someone had just spoken near enough to her, it made her flip her head up, and look for where the voice had just come from. Hikari soon saw it was Chiba, and asked, "What are you doing here, Chiba?"

"Walking toward my residence, seeing as it's starting to get late around here, for your information. You weren't really watching where you were going, Tsukino. Not a very good idea, it seems to me."

"May I have my backpack back now, please?" asked Hikari, just as soon as she realized he'd picked up her backpack here.

"For a kiss, perhaps?"

"I'm not in the mood for games. It seems a joker has swiped one of my books, and asked me for a kiss as well, in order to get it back from him well enough. I want my backpack back now, or I might just have to get after you as well. He's on my hit list right now, and I would recommend very strongly to you that you not join him on it. At least not at this time, if ever. So unless you want me to start getting after you right now, I'd give back my backpack, if I were you."

"Fine. I was just wondering if I could get a kiss from Miss Flash here for her backpack."

"My name is Hikari Tsukino. Not Miss Flash, not Popcorn Head, or any other name like either of those things, for your information, Chiba. And if you still want my help with the others who challenged you to eat with me later on, I'd remember that as best as you possibly can, in the future."

"Popcorn Head? I didn't call you that."

"The guy who's on my hit list now did. Just so you know. I may have two large balls of hair on my head. But I am not dumb, and they don't look like popcorn balls to me, for that matter."

"I see. Very well. I'll try to remember the things that you've just told me here, then." He then handed her backpack back to her with no further delay. And he then hurried away from her before he could say anything else that might tick her off even more than she apparently already was ticked off now.

Hikari briefly watched him flee the scene, and then continued on her way back to her family's residence elsewhere in her part of Tokyo. The rest of her trip back to there didn't take her too much longer, in fact. And she was back at her family's residence by 7 pm local time, at the very latest. When she got there, her parents were sitting near the front door talking to each other for a little while.

When they saw here walk onto their residence's premises here, her mother Ayame soon asked her, "How was your time at the park this afternoon, Hikari?

"It was fine, for the most part, until some joker decided to steal a book I was reading, and not give it back to me. Also, there was a monster attack in that park, and I nearly got caught by that monster, for that matter, Mother."

"I see. Well, are you probably in for the night, then?"

"I don't really know yet, Mother."

Her dad looked at Hikari and Ayame for a few seconds, and then said, "Trinity called while you were out. Seems she might be moving after the end of the first quarter or semester of school back to England. Which it is, I didn't quite catch. But I did catch that she might be moving in the near future, just so you know that here well enough, Hikari."

"I see. Well, then, I guess I'm not. Would you please see that my backpack gets put back in my room, then?"

"I don't think so, Hikari," said her Dad. "You can do that yourself, I think. And you got some mail from several of your penpals overseas, for that matter. I suggest you collect them before your siblings decide to hide them from you, like they've often been known to do."

"As you wish, Father." Hikari then headed right for her bedroom, and dealt with all the necessary things as needed while there. She locked up the letters where her younger siblings Kiku, Bukiyuno, Sakura, and Daisuke couldn't get to them, in very short order. Specifically, she stashed them in the safe on her desk, wherever possible. As for the other letters that she couldn't currently fit in her safe, she decided to stash them in her brand-new subspace pocket. And she did the same with all the packages from overseas that she'd just gotten in the mail, for that matter. As she stashed all her mail away as needed or desired now, Mizuki appeared from under her bed.

"What are you doing, Hikari?" asked Mizuki, as she watched her charge put a considerable number of things in her new subspace pocket here. She only asked that once she was as sure as she could then be that it would be safe enough for her to talk to Hikari here, of course.

"Securing my mail, that's what, Mizuki," answered Hikari, just as soon as it was quite safe enough for her to talk to Mizuki here and now. "I don't want my younger siblings getting into it, if I can possibly keep them from doing so at all, before I have a chance to check it all out for myself well enough."

"But that subspace pocket is only meant to hold Senshi-related items, if and whenever possible, Hikari."

"Such as what, for example?"

"Senshi weapons, for instance. And assorted other equipment, where necessary and possible, while we're at it."

"Not for civilian-related items?" Hikari frowned, when Mizuki told her those things now.

"No, not for them, Hikari, if and whenever possible. Every such item in your pocket that is there reduces the space available for Senshi-related items, for the obvious reasons."

"Then how do you suggest I keep my important things sufficiently secure from my younger siblings, et cetera? I'd really like to know, if I may, Mizuki."

"Get another safe, perhaps."

"And put it where? I don't really have the space to do that at the moment, it seems. I've got my bed, the desk, the chairs, et cetera, in my room here. So I don't really have much room to put another safe in here right now. Not even another safe about the same size as the one now on my desk."

"Fine. We'll undoubtedly discuss this again later. For now, I suppose that you can store some, though not all, of your civilian-related stuff in your pocket. But I want you to keep a lot of it unused, if and whenever possible, of course."

"Good. Just so you and I agree on that right now."

"I don't really like this idea much right now, but do I really have a choice in the matter right now?"

"No, you don't. If you're going to stay with me, then you won't have much say about that right now."

"I'm your boss, Hikari."

"Only in terms of Senshi matters, I think. In my civilian state, I believe it's the other way around, for the obvious reasons, Mizuki."

"Point taken, reluctantly, I must admit."

Hikari soon finished stashing whatever she felt like stashing at the current time in her pocket. And then she changed into a silver sweater, a copper knee-length skirt, and a pair gold open-toed leather sandals. After she did that well enough to suit her enough at the current time, she left her room, carrying a small purse with her as she did so. Off she went toward Trinity's residence in a nearby apartment building, in fact.

Several minutes later, she arrived there, to find Trinity working on a dress she was then making in her room. After Trinity let her come into her room, Hikari soon sat down on a couch there for a little while. Hikari did that at Trinity's invitation, by the way.

Hikari soon asked, "Why will you be heading back to England in the near future?"

"Because my father's company is recalling him to the headquarters branch of it. So we could leave anytime in the next three to six months, if I'm not too mistaken here."

"And do you want to go back to England soon?" asked Hikari.

"No, of course not. But it looks like I'm going to have to do that, anyway, Hi-chan."

"Trinity, can't your father refuse the transfer?"

"He could, but we need the money, it seems, that a transfer will allow us to get. If we don't go, we might not get that money that we need, I believe."

"What do you mean?"

"Assorted health issues for certain people in our family have begun to crop up again. Not for me, but for Mother and my sister Angel, specifically. We'll need the money for their assorted medical treatments, of course. So it looks like we're all going to have to return to England soon enough in our lives. Otherwise, they might not last much longer, we think."

"How much longer, then, do you think they'll be able to survive if you don't go back to England again soon enough?"

"They might not make it to March, we suspect."

The two girls conversed with and spent time with each other for some time, before it got to be about 9 or so at night in the local area. When it got to be about that time, then, they eventually parted from each other. Hikari left her English friend again, and then set off for her family's residence again, of course. On the way back there, she encountered Kagome, for that matter. They met each other on a sidewalk about halfway between Trinity and Hikari's residences in the area, and Kagome was the first of them both to speak when they did so well enough.

Hikari looked Kagome Rikouno over here at least a little bit more than she'd previously been able to that same week. And she soon saw that she was about 5'6" and about 125 pounds with a slightly more muscled build and appearance to her than Hikari had for herself now. Kagome had quite wavy black hair that normally fell to her waist and occasionally looked like it had a dark bluish sheen to it, for that matter. She was just about two months younger than Hikari was, having been born in early September of 1976. Kagome was now wearing a light blue sweater and a tan pair of slacks, as well as a pair of gold winged-feet earrings that currently dangled from piercings in her unattached earlobes. However, her long hair was currently blocking Hikari's view of those same earrings. On Kagome's feet, there were now a pair of medium blue and tan tennis shoes, which completed her current look, as far as Hikari could then tell well enough here. For no watch was on either of her Kagome's wrists right now.

"What's your name again, if I don't remember it well enough yet?" asked Kagome, while Hikari was still looking her over at least a little bit.

"My name is Hikari Tsukino. What's yours, in like manner, if I may ask you that here as well?"

"My name is Kagome Rikouno. You've seen me in school a bit, and I was at the Athletic Club when we took on some boys in a game of pick-up basketball."

"I'm about boy-ed out tonight, I think."

"Why, if I may ask?"

"Two boys tried to get me to kiss them today."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, one is an orange-haired freak, and the other is the same guy I did that awesome dunk over."

"Orange-haired freak? I seem to remember one of the boys we faced earlier as having mostly orange hair with blond and black streaks or something there."

"Yes, he wanted me to kiss him in order to possibly get a book he swiped from me back well enough. Of course, you can probably guess what happened then."

"You rejected his proposal, I suppose, for you to kiss him in return for your book back."

"You better believe it. He's now at the #1 position on my hit list, for that kind of behavior, of course."

The two 8th Grade girls talked for a while longer as Hikari still continued to head toward her family's residence again. About two minutes before Hikari would arrive home, then, Kagome parted from Hikari outside her own family's residence. She reminded Hikari of a planned test in World History scheduled for the following day of school, just before she did that here. Hikari thanked her, of course, for the reminder here, before briefly watching Kagome go inside that residence. After Kagome was in it well enough, Hikari resumed heading toward her own residence, for the obvious reasons.

About two minutes later, she arrived there again for the second and last time on the current day or night. And she soon went right to her room, after doing that well enough. It was now just about 9:20 pm, local time, when she did that here well enough.

After she got herself sufficiently settled, at least for the rest of the night, Mizuki eventually popped out from under the bed again. When she did that, Hikari was now studying for the upcoming test and doing some of her still-uncompleted homework, in fact. Mizuki wanted to know more about Kagome. But Hikari quite firmly refused to say much about her at the current time, if anything at all, for that matter. Supposing that she now knew enough about Kagome that she could tell Mizuki here, of course.

Hikari studied and worked on her homework until about midnight local time, before starting to get ready for bed again. She said very little, if anything, to Mizuki while she was then doing so here. Much to Mizuki's increasingly obvious dismay, by the way.

By 12:30, then, Hikari was already in her bed again. And she was quite soundly asleep in it, while she was then at it, for that matter. She was also dreaming of things and people she wasn't quite familiar enough in her life, as she did so. Or at least things and people that she wasn't quite familiar enough with at the current time in it, anyway.

* * *

The next chapter of this particular story will be up soon enough here, if at all possible. If you have any good enough ideas for possible pairings of the main characters, as long as they are male-female in nature, I'm quite willing to hear them, in fact. I really hope that you all might come to enjoy this story and its related series quite a bit, of course. Please read and review quite constructively, if at all possible, quite often, if and whenever you might so choose, people. Until later, then, this is The Universal Storyteller saying, "Over and out!" 


	5. Chapter Four

Sailor Moon and all related characters or concepts, et cetera, belong to Naoko Takeuchi and all sufficiently related parties, unless otherwise stated. However, in this version of things, at least, all the Senshi/Scouts, et cetera, who are from the main dimension of this story series are MINE, and only MINE, unless I say otherwise here. While the Senshi/Scouts in this story and its series may actually use the exact same combat identities as the canon Senshi/Scouts, they're not necessarily the same as them in their respective lives, for your information. Please do try to keep that in mind while you read this story and any others that might follow it in its series, people.

Now with no further ado, let's get on with the story here, if we may. And I really hope that you enjoy it quite a lot, of course, everyone. Please read and review often, then, in quite constructive manners, if and whenever possible and desired. This is The Universal Storyteller now saying, "Over and out!"

* * *

Chapter Four

On Friday afternoon, after school ended for her, Hikari soon went to work at _MS_ again, as usual. She arrived there at her usual arrival time there, of course. Little did she know yet that she'd have a lot of people to serve on the current day. But that was still to be seen, just the same.

She got right to work after changing into her work uniform, and had all her usual tables prepared as needed by 4:30. People started filing into the establishment at that time, and she soon was serving at least a dozen people at the same time, essentially. She dealt with them all as necessary and as quickly as she then could here. Among those people she worked on serving here, there happened to be Soruno and several others with him at the current time. Most of them about their ages, in fact.

Soruno saw her soon enough, and said, "This is a surprise to see you here now, Tsukino-san."

"I work here three days a week. What will you have, Soruno-san?"

"A milkshake, a 6-inch sub, and a kiss from you, at least, if I may."

"What kind of milkshake, and what kind of sub? I can't give you the kiss, though."

He soon told her the necessary things, at least as it related to the milkshake and sub, if nothing else at well, at the current time. After he did so, she turned to the rest of the people with him at his table, and got their orders as well, of course. When she was quite sure that she had all their orders right to the best of her current ability here, she left them and relayed their orders to the establishment's cooks, just as soon as she could do that well enough here. Then she attended to other patrons orders as well, as the orders for Soruno's group were still being taken care of here.

Five or so minutes after she left Soruno's table as needed, she brought back their orders as appropriate for them all. And then she continued to work rather hard while she attended to many other patrons elsewhere in the restaurant here. This continued quite hectically for her until it was almost 7:15 in the evening, local time, in fact. She couldn't really catch a breather while working here at least until then, if not even longer than that. Eventually, though, for the obvious reasons, the crowd of patrons then at the arcade/restaurant began to thin out at least a little bit. At least for a little while, anyway.

In between uses of certain tables in the place, she gathered up all the applicable tips left on them, of course. By the time things settled down enough for her to get at least a little breather here, she'd gathered up the equivalent of about $1,140 off eight tables in her part of the establishment. She hurriedly socked it away where needed, whenever possible, obviously enough. She'd served about a hundred patrons in about two or three hours of work by that time, for that matter.

Eventually, she somehow managed to retreat to the ladies' restroom briefly, while all her assigned tables were then empty. And she did whatever she felt she needed to in there for a few minutes, at least. Not too much later, then, she went back to work, of course. And attended to about another two or three dozen patrons for about another hour or so. She saw the very last of her patrons leave one of her tables around 8:45 in the evening. And when they did, with no other patrons then replacing them, she soon gathered up all the necessary tips that were still present on her tables there. This was for all the obvious reasons, quite naturally enough. She counted all the money out that she'd just made on that day of work for her. Hikari then did that after finally being able to change out of her work uniform again here. And she soon saw that she'd just made roughly the equivalent of about $1,500 in tips for about four or five hours of work as a waitress for the day here. She soon secretly stashed that money in her subspace pocket, and left the establishment herself, once she'd clocked out for the rest of the night from there.

She arrived back home around 9:30 or so, and went right to her room, in very short order. Ten minutes later, then, she was already showering in the bathroom nearest her room in her family's residence. After her shower, she then left that bedroom, and went walking again, as was usually the case for her on a typical work night. Mizuki soon followed her, just as soon as she realized Hikari was doing that now.

She walked for about an hour, more or less, around her part of Tokyo, before Mizuki finally was able to catch up with her again well enough. By that time, Hikari was sitting on a chair inside a neighborhood mall's food court. And Hikari was having some ice cream for herself as she sat there then.

"Go home, Mizuki," said Hikari, just as soon as Mizuki was close enough for her to say that safely enough, and well enough, here.

Mizuki began rubbing up against Hikari's legs, and doing cat-like things near them, as much as she then could, so as to seem natural enough to anyone who might pass by at the current time. She didn't actually say anything with her voice, at least not at the current time, for the obvious reasons. But she still tried to let Hikari know she wanted to converse with her at the earliest possible opportunity, by doing those things here.

Hikari said, after a while of this, just as quietly and as safely as she then could, "Mizuki, I'll talk to you later. I had a rather hard day at work tonight. And I'm unwinding from it right now. I'll tell you more about it later, if you go back home right now. I promise."

All those things registered well enough in Mizuki's head about a minute or two, at most, after Hikari said them here. And then Mizuki chose to obey her apparent mistress at the current time. She did it rather reluctantly, of course. But she still did that, just the same.

Hikari soon watched her go, and thought to herself, "How am I going to explain Soruno's apparent fascination with me here to her well enough, if I haven't already? I'd really like to know just how I should do that when the need and the ability arises for me to do that for her at all. Plus, she'll probably want me to train somewhere, just as soon as I can do that well enough, of course."

Hikari stayed in the mall for perhaps about another forty or so minutes after Mizuki left her alone, so to speak, in it. Then she began walking home again, for the obvious reasons. On the way back, she encountered Chiba again. He saw her first, and asked, "How are you tonight, Tsukino-san?"

"Just fine, Chiba-san. I'm heading home now, and I don't really want you to follow me home, if it can be avoided at all."

"Why not?"  
"Because I don't think we know each other well enough for me to let you do that. At least not right now, if that might ever be the case for us both in the future."

"And if I want to walk you home, Miss Flash?" He winked at her for a moment.

"Don't call me that, Chiba-san. Remember, I could still refuse to help you with at least one or more of your possibly-current problems, you know."

"But you flashed past me when we were playing basketball a few days ago."

"So I did, and I stuffed the rock down the hole quite well, if I must say so myself."

"And won the game, on the following foul shot."

"Yes, I did, after you'd fouled me."

They then talked for at least a few minutes with, and they got to know a little bit more about, each other here. Not very much, at least at the current time, in fact. But still at least a little bit, just the same. Eventually, Susumu Chiba decided to part from her for the rest of the night, and when he did so, it was about 11:50 pm local time. Hikari watched him leave for a few brief moments, when he did so, and then returned in very short order back to her family's residence again, of course. She was there by 12:05 in the morning of Saturday, September 8, 1990, by the way.

When she came in the front door, her mother asked her, "How was your walk, Hikari?"

"It could probably have been better than it actually was, I think." Hikari talked only briefly with her mother here before heading to her room moments later.

When she got there well enough, and there for a long enough time here, Mizuki soon leapt at her, obviously quite mad that Hikari had made her go back home again earlier. Hikari dropped her backpack as Mizuki did so, and was barely able to keep Mizuki from clawing her well enough now.

Hikari caught Mizuki before she could dig her claws into her charge's skin a bit. Then she brought Mizuki over to her bed, and held her down until Mizuki chose to settle down enough here. It took her about five minutes of restraining Mizuki before Mizuki somehow got the idea sufficiently well that Hikari wouldn't put up with that sort of behavior at the current time, if ever.

After Mizuki gave up trying to claw at Hikari here, Hikari said, "You'd better not try that again in a situation like this, Mizuki, if you can possibly avoid it at all. Otherwise, you might wish you hadn't."

"Start talking, and I might not have to take matters into my own paws with you, so to speak. And you'd best prepare to start training rather hard in the future, just as soon as possible, for that matter."

"Whenever it's actually time for some Sailor Senshi-related training, then we'll see about you being the boss, Mizuki! Otherwise, I'm your boss, just in case you may have forgotten that here well enough!"

The two of them looked at each other quite closely for a few minutes, before Mizuki finally said, "That's yet to be determined once and for all. For the future isn't yet known well enough, of course. So start talking to me, Hikari! I don't have all night to spend talking to you right now."

A few moments more, and Hikari decided to share at least a little bit about the events of the previous 16 to 24 hours, more or less, with Mizuki here. She even told Mizuki at least a bit about her earlier meetings with Chiba and Soruno elsewhere in the area. After she did that for a long enough time to suit Mizuki enough right now, Mizuki let her prepare for bed in very short order. And Mizuki soon curled up in her own cat bed under Hikari's, for that matter.

Both Hikari and Mizuki were quite soundly asleep in their respective beds anywhere at all in Hikari's room, then, by 1:15 in the morning. And they'd both probably not rise from those beds again for at least the next five or six hours after that time, if not even longer than that, seeing as it was now a Saturday for them both here. Perhaps not even until 9, for Hikari normally slept in until about that time, at least, on most, if not all, of her free Saturdays, in fact. And this would probably be one of those same Saturdays for her, if at all possible, while she was at it in her own life, just the same.

* * *

At 10:15 in the morning, then, after several hours of sleep and two rather quick meals of some sort, Hikari and Mizuki left her family's residence behind again. And they both went exploring in the general area of it. Especially Mizuki, for she really wanted to find a safe enough place for them to train in quite often enough in the future, if at all possible, of course. And not only for them, but also for any other Senshi or Knights who might eventually join their side of the battle in it, for that matter.

The two of them soon found a quite long-abandoned warehouse a considerable enough distance away from Hikari's residence, but still close enough to it to probably be quite accessible to them under normal enough circumstances in the future. And it was sufficiently plain-looking to most likely not gain most people's usual interest, for that matter. A great deal of trash was then all around and inside that warehouse, of course. But once the Senshi and all of their eventual allies settled well enough into it, it most certainly wouldn't be, if they had anything to say or do about it in the future well enough.

It was about two miles, walking distance, at most, maybe, from Hikari's residence. Other future Senshi and Knights would probably live closer to there than Hikari would. And at least one or two of them would live farther away from it than Hikari would, for that matter. When they found that place, Hikari said, "Mizuki, this doesn't look like a very good place to train in here, at least to me right now."

"This is going to be our main base, whether you like it or not, if at all possible, Hikari. I've just decided that here, in fact. I realize it's going to take a good deal of work to make it a better place for us to train in, but we're going to be working out of here, if and whenever possible, in the future."

"And money, no doubt?" Hikari was trying to save up for a car in the future, among other things she wanted to make money for in her life at the present time. Such as for her college education, for example.

"Of course, Hikari. I've done at least a little research whenever you've actually been in school the past few days. And this is the only place that hasn't actually been on the real estate market for quite some length of time. Or in use, for that matter. It seems that long ago, there were some rather strange things that happened in and around this part of Tokyo, while it was still known as Edo. And ever since they did, nobody's been very interested in being around here for a long enough time, it seems to me, based on what I've learned to date about this particular place here. It was last sufficiently occupied and in nearly-continual use in the 1950's. After which, it suddenly was abandoned, in 1961, not to be used or occupied again by anyone, as far as I know about it here well enough."

"How much is this place going to cost me here, then, in your opinion, Mizuki?"

"The Sun, Earth, and Moon Corporation holds the title to it at present. But rumor has it that they might be interested in selling the property to potential bidders for it in the near future. My contacts in the area seem to think that might happen in the near future, for that matter, and that it might go quite cheaply, at that."

"Just who are these contacts of yours?" Hikari, of course, was quite curious about just who they might be here and now, for the obvious reasons.

"They wish to remain anonymous at the current time, at least. If not permanently, that is. So I'm not going to identify them to you right now, Hikari. At least until they say that I can, if ever, of course."

"If you're so set on this place, have your contacts let the necessary people know that I'd like to see them as soon as possible, then, Mizuki."

"Why? Are you thinking what I'm hoping you are?"

"What are you hoping that I'm thinking?" Mizuki hopped up on top of a garbage can near the warehouse now in question here, as Hikari asked her that now.

"That you'll want to buy it as quickly as possible before common knowledge of this potential sale gets out to the general public, and before the price gets up too high for you to afford it well enough."

"Then you're right, it seems, Mizuki." Hikari leaned against a nearby brick wall, as she said that here.

"Good. When would be a good time to arrange the meeting for, if at all possible?"

Hikari suddenly crinkled her face a little bit here, before finally answering, "Let's try for a week from this next Thursday, wherever necessary, Mizuki And wherever possible for it, for that matter."

"Twelve days from now? Why?"

"Just a feeling, I suppose."

"Can you explain it well enough to me at the present time, by any chance at all?"

"No, not at present. But it just came to me like a flash of light, I suppose."

"Fine, I'll see what I can do to make sure that such a meeting happens for you at that time." The two of them explored the area more for quite some time. And then they eventually both returned back to Hikari's place here after doing so. Hikari spent a good portion of the rest of the day in her room, whenever possible. While Mizuki began doing what she could to start the ball rolling here well enough. At least with certain matters that were sufficiently related to the currently-abandoned warehouse, anyway, not long after they'd both gotten back to Hikari's residence again here.

It took Hikari much of the day to organize all her thoughts and all the necessary items sufficiently well, in terms of the potential future Senshi base. But she still managed to do it well enough by 5:30 or so in the late afternoon. She'd spent the equivalent of about $5,000 or so in Japanese money by that time of day, after having saved it for most of her life to date. Hikari didn't really like the idea of having to do that very much, though, of course. However, she didn't want Mizuki to get mad at her for not trying to do what might now need to be done by her, just the same. So she reluctantly spent her long-saved money here, in fact.

She soon stored everything that she'd then bought to work on the place with later on in her subspace pocket. And she knew that Mizuki wouldn't get mad at her for doing so here, due to the fact that they were being put there for Senshi-related matters, if she knew her at least that well enough now, of course. Hikari would keep those things in her pocket if and whenever possible, until they could be handled well enough in and around that warehouse. That way, nobody else who didn't need to know about them hopefully wouldn't know about them at all, as far as she was then concerned, here.

When her brother Bukiyuno asked, during one of her short periods of time out of her bedroom at present, "What are you doing here now, when you're usually with your friends on Saturdays, Hi-chan?"

"I had, and I currently have, certain other rather important things to attend to, Buki-chan. Besides, Trinity and Karen are elsewhere. I tried to get in touch with them earlier, but they weren't available, for some reason. So I'm here, continuing to work on those things here, if and whenever possible. And I'd prefer you leave me alone again for at least a little while longer, please."

"When can we spend some more time with each other, then, Hi-chan?"

"Just as soon as possible. But right now, I'm quite busy with certain things, it seems. I wish it weren't the case, but it is. At least at the current time, anyway."

Not long after that brief conversation with Bukiyuno, Hikari then returned to her room again here. She didn't like having to ask him to leave her alone here, in fact. But she still knew that it was currently necessary for her to do that, just the same. She didn't see him again until supper for her family later that evening, and then, only as briefly as possible, for the obvious reasons.

Right after supper, then, she went for a walk again. And she did so not just in order to hopefully find Mizuki again somewhere, for that matter. She also needed to think about a good number of things at the present time, while she was then at it, if she could do that well enough. And she often did a lot of her deeper thinking whenever she was walking in her life. Not always, in fact. But still quite often, just the same.

When she left her family's residence again, it was nearly 8:45 in the evening that would soon become night. She then walked for a while, not exactly caring all that much about where she might be heading as she did so here. Hikari eventually found herself near where Rumiko Aino now lived in her life. And not long after that, she heard signs of apparent trouble.

Hikari heard those signs, and began to get a bad feeling about what might be happening here. So she began to unconsciously prepare for potential battle with whatever might be causing that trouble. A block away from it, she ducked into a darkened nearby alley, and prepared to power up, just as soon as she could do that well enough here. When it was safe enough for her to do that, she powered up, and became Sailor Moon.

With that done, she headed straight toward the signs of apparent trouble, and soon found a group of gang members trying to pick on a group of girls walking with each other. She quickly rushed into the situation, and began to try saving those girls from the gang members in question, while just going on pure instinct, here. At least at first, anyway. Seeing as they were all just mere humans here, she quite obviously refrained from using her current Senshi attack, of course. But she did whale on them quite a bit here, just the same.

It wasn't more than about five minutes or so later that all the gang members were beginning to flee the scene. For she'd soon forced them all to run away if they really wanted to avoid going to the nearest hospital in the very near future. After the last of them fled the scene just as quickly as they could, Sailor Moon eventually asked, "Are you girls all okay now?"

"Thanks to you, we are, it seems. Right, Hoshi, Ami, and Yumi?" asked Rumiko, once she had identified herself well enough to Sailor Moon here, if she hadn't already done so by then.

Three other girls soon nodded here, once they were able to figure that out well enough. Little did they know that they would eventually become Senshi, in their respective lives. But that was still quite a while into the future, in fact.

As for Rumiko, she was the only Black girl of the four that Sailor Moon had just defended here. And the only one of those four girls who'd probably become a Senshi in the very near future, for that matter. The fight had brought her destiny to be a Senshi at least a little bit closer, by the way. Though nobody mortal yet knew that well enough, if they ever would do so, in their lives.

Sailor Moon soon escorted them each to their respective residences in the area. The last of them who she saw into them was Rumiko, before Rumiko entered her apartment again here and now. Sailor Moon didn't yet know that Rumiko was an orphan. But she'd eventually learn it in the future, when they were both in their respective civilian states of being, most likely.

After she saw Rumiko into her apartment again, she eventually found a safe enough place to power down in, and did so, just as soon as she could do that well enough and safely enough. She headed back home, arriving there again by 11:30 at night. She accessed her room from the roof, after climbing up the necessary tree outside her window. And Hikari then closed the window after herself as needed here, when possible, of course. By the time that she was there again, Mizuki was already sitting on Hikari's bed, for that matter.

"What?" asked Hikari, just as soon as Mizuki gave her a rather questioning look here, and once it was safe enough for her to do that now.

"Did you use your Senshi form again tonight?"

"Yes, I did. I used it to save four girls from several gang members, in fact."

"Did you use your current Senshi attack?"

"Of course not! The gang members were just mere humans, Mizuki. I couldn't use it on them, for the obvious reasons. Though they were really bothering the girls I rescued, I couldn't use it on them, of course!"

"You were tempted, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't. And that's all I'm saying about this matter. At least at this time, anyway. Let's get ready for bed, just as soon as we can, Mizuki. I'm fairly tired now, in fact."

"Very well. But we'll talk about this matter again, I'm quite sure. Now get your rest, for we're going to have more things to do in the area soon enough, for that matter."

"On Sundays, I usually stay home in the afternoons. I sometimes go to Trinity's church elsewhere in the area on Sunday mornings, before I come home again for a while. I usually stay home for most of the time after church on Sundays, for that matter."

"And do what, if I may ask?"

"Study, of course, and do whatever homework I might have yet to do that might be due on a particular Monday, Mizuki. I often retire for the night on Sunday nights by 11:45 pm, local time. Though not always, for your information."

"I see. And what time do you usually wake up on Mondays when you have school?"

"The same time that I normally might wake up at on other school days, in fact, Mizuki."

The two of them conversed with each other only a little longer here before Hikari turned out all the necessary lights here, and climbed into bed. When Mizuki realized that Hikari wouldn't put up with any more talking at the current time well enough, she then went to her own bed and curled up in it, just before going to sleep herself. Both of them were quite soundly asleep in their respective beds by local midnight, for that matter, in fact. And so they both slept there, not to arise in them again for several hours, perhaps, unless they absolutely had to here, for any reason whatsoever, of course.

* * *

The next chapter of this particular story will be up soon enough here, if at all possible. If you have any good enough ideas for possible pairings of the main characters, as long as they are male-female in nature, I'm quite willing to hear them, in fact. I really hope that you all might come to enjoy this story and its related series quite a bit, of course. Please read and review quite constructively, if at all possible, quite often, if and whenever you might so choose, people. Until later, then, this is The Universal Storyteller saying, "Over and out!" 


	6. Chapter Five

Sailor Moon and all related characters or concepts, et cetera, belong to Naoko Takeuchi and all sufficiently related parties, unless otherwise stated. However, in this version of things, at least, all the Senshi/Scouts, et cetera, who are from the main dimension of this story series are MINE, and only MINE, unless I say otherwise here. While the Senshi/Scouts in this story and its series may actually use the exact same combat identities as the canon Senshi/Scouts, they're not necessarily the same as them in their respective lives, for your information. Please do try to keep that in mind while you read this story and any others that might follow it in its series, people.

Now with no further ado, let's get on with the story here, if we may. And I really hope that you enjoy it quite a lot, of course, everyone. Please read and review often, then, in quite constructive manners, if and whenever possible and desired. This is The Universal Storyteller now saying, "Over and out!"

* * *

Chapter Five

The following Wednesday, after work, Hikari was at the warehouse with Mizuki. They were trying to prepare it for future use by the Senshi. While they were doing that, they came upon many rooms with walls often painted in assorted colors. And on the main doors to those many rooms, there were usually names of certain celestial bodies on them, for that matter. One of them, of course, said Moon on it. Hikari and Mizuki soon entered that room, and saw that the walls of it were mainly painted in silver, copper, and gold, where they weren't covered by anything else at all. Such as a mural, for example.

For the most part, each room was currently empty. Except for maybe a few pieces of furniture and certain other items related to the Senshi or Knight who might occupy those rooms, for that matter. In Hikari's case, a bed, a table, and a chair were basically the only items then present in the room with her Senshi name on its door.

After they had familiarized themselves enough with the locations of the necessary rooms in the warehouse that would be assigned as appropriate to the Senshi or the Knights, they went back to work on straightening up the warehouse more and more, in fact. This continued until about 11:30, when Hikari asked Mizuki if they could go back home again for the rest of that night.

Mizuki was about to say that they could, but before she could, sounds of potential trouble quickly reached their ears. While they were both still inside the warehouse, then, Hikari powered up, and became Sailor Moon again. Then they both quickly left the area of the warehouse behind just as safely and as soon as they could. Mizuki had Moon leap up to a nearby rooftop in very short order, and then did the same herself, just as soon as she could do that well enough here. Even if it was only in stages for herself, of course.

Both of them then sped over the necessary rooftops as quickly as they could here. And they both soon reached the place where the potential trouble was then going on. It took them both just about five minutes or so to cross several blocks of the city, in fact. And when they'd both gotten there, Kagome and Rumiko were among several people currently being drained by another Negaverse monster of some sort, near where Hikari worked as a waitress.

A few moments, at most, later, then, Sailor Moon and the monster began battling. This happened after the monster, who'd actually introduced themselves as Nabang, dropped the people that it had been draining when Sailor Moon and Mizuki showed up in the area, of course. Five minutes or so later, then, Sailor Moon had taken quite a few good hits from Nabang in the battle, while only being able to deal out a couple, at most. She wasn't doing very well at the current time against Nabang, in fact. But she was still doing the best that she then could against them, just the same.

As Rumiko and Kagome tried to both stay relatively conscious, with much effort on both their parts, Mizuki soon began checking them and others then close enough to them out as best as she then could. All while Sailor Moon was fighting the monster, of course. As she was doing that, she suddenly got a feeling that they both were people she once had known long ago. She saw two symbols briefly flash on their cheek or forehead, and they were the signs of Mercury and Mars. The one for Mercury was in gold, light blue, and tan, while the one for Mars was in red, black, and pink.

When Mizuki saw those signs, she soon suspected that they were the Senshi of Intelligence, in Mercury's case, and the Senshi of Love and Beauty, in Mars's case. She then touched them both briefly, just before verifying her suspicions here well enough. When they were verified well enough to suit her, she then did two flips, in very short order, and when they were both done, two pens landed near both girls here. One pen had the necessary sign for Mercury, and the other for Mars. After they landed there, Mizuki pushed each of the pens toward the girls here as then needed.

The girls didn't yet understand what was going on well enough, of course. But when they saw a certain look in Mizuki's eyes here, they each took the pen closer to themselves now. As soon as they did, they felt much more energetic, for that matter. They soon stood up, and stood back-to-back with each other briefly. Then they separated themselves by about five or so feet from each other, before yelling out, when it was safe enough for them both to do so now, "Mercury Power! Mars Power!"

After they said each of the necessary transformation phrases for themselves, they were both shrouded completely in pillars of multi-colored lights here. In Mercury's case, she was shrouded in a pillar of gold, light blue, and tan light. While in Mars's case, she was shrouded in a pillar of red, black, and pink light, for that matter. They each remained shrouded as they powered up here, for about a minute or two, at most, maybe.

When they were both revealed completely again, they were in their new Senshi uniforms, here, of course. In Sailor Mercury's case, she had on a gold tiara with a blue stone at its base, a blue choker, a blue collar with two gold stripes of piping, a blue front bow, a gold locket, a mostly white bodysuit with white shoulders, two tan armbands at the elbows, a tan back bow, white elbow-length gloves, a three-level skirt with the colors being gold, blue, and gold, where they weren't separated by two black stripes, and tan -style boots with blue trim at the tops of their boots. Not to mention as well, a pair of winged-feet earrings that she'd worn during an earlier encounter with Hikari elsewhere in Tokyo, by the way. Her skirt was roughly as long as Sailor Moon's was, for that matter.

As for Sailor Mars, her uniform now consisted of a gold tiara, a red stone, a red choker, a pink collar with two white stripes of piping, a pink front bow, a black locket, a mostly white bodysuit with white shoulders, two black armbands at the elbows, a red back bow, white elbow-length gloves, a three-level mostly pink skirt with two black stripes, and a pair of pink ankle boots with no trim at all on them. Her ears had heart-shaped earrings dangling from them, and the earrings were of the clip-on variety, for that matter. As with the skirts for Sailor Moon and Mercury, her skirt was roughly the same length for her as it was for them now.

After Mercury and Mars had realized they'd both powered up well enough here, Mizuki said, "Girls, you must help Sailor Moon. Say and do whatever you then feel you must here, within reason, of course."

Sailor Mercury then fingered her left earring, and a light blue visor of sorts appeared almost instantly over her eyes here. A few figures and things started appearing to her on it. After about thirty seconds, at most, she suddenly shouted out, "Mercury Knowledge Contemplation!" Several dozen lamps began appearing near her, inside a catapult of some sort, and they were fully lit, for that matter. She walked over to that catapult, as Mars found a black metal pipe, some mostly pink yarn, and five long mostly straight sticks in a nearby alley, and prepared to use it on Nabang as the inclination struck her now.

As she did that, Mars twisted that pipe into the form of a bow, and turned the sticks into improvised arrows with the help of other nearby items. She quickly strung the bow with the yarn she'd just found, of course. A bag that she also found, she turned into a quiver of sorts, for that matter. After doing all those things here, she nocked one of the improvised arrows on the string of her improvised bow, and aimed at Nabang, just as soon as she could do that then.

After both Mars and Mercury were ready to join the fight, they called out, "Hey, Negaverse creep, stop picking on Sailor Moon! Prepare to die, on behalf of God's Moon, Mercury, and Mars! We, as Sailors Mercury and Mars, shall punish you, and send you to your eternal place of torment, God willing!"

Nabang briefly, at least, released Sailor Moon, in order to better get a look at Sailors Mercury and Mars here. When she did, Sailor Moon backed away from her opponent as quickly and as best as she could here. Nabang began to move toward Mars and Mercury, and when she was sufficiently within their effective firing ranges at the current time, they released their missiles at her. Mars did so by yelling as she fired off each of her arrows of a sort, "Mars Romantic Sniper." Mercury's missiles soon trapped Nabang in a cage of sorts. While Mars's missiles soon bombarded Nabang inside that cage of sorts with many items related to romance or to beauty products, for that matter. Nabang tried to break out of the cage of sorts, but was unable to do that well enough before Mars's missiles hit her many times, weakening her quite considerably indeed. But still not enough to destroy her, for that matter, by the time that Mars and Mercury were each out of ammunition of two different sorts..

It took a few attacks from Sailor Moon and two Knights to weaken her enough to allow Sailor Moon to finally destroy her. As was the case before, both knights had showed up and announced their presence with roses in the required colors for them both. They'd stood across the street from each other, on top of lampposts where the battle was still not finished, when they'd appeared at the battle's location, of course. They aided the three female Senshi for a little while, as needed, making rather brief speeches in the process of doing so, when they could. Eventually, Nabang had been weakened enough to allow Sailor Moon to destroy her here.

When that was the case, Sailor Moon then wasted no more time in doing that here. Thirty seconds or so later, at most, then, Nabang had been dusted. And the dust that she'd been turned into had vanished very quickly after she'd been dusted. It disappeared just like the dust from the earlier monsters that Sailor Moon had earlier fought had disappeared at the end of the applicable battles, of course. Everyone's energy returned to them just as quickly as it had earlier been drained by Nabang, for that matter.

After that happened, the Senshi and Knights, as well as Mizuki, then hurried away from the scene just as quickly and as safely as they could, with Mizuki in the lead as they did so. Mizuki soon led everyone to the warehouse, and to their respective future rooms in it. Even the Knights, for that matter.

After she did that, she soon let them do what they wanted to do here. By the time they'd all done that, then, they'd all powered down somehow. Whether it was by choice or not, they'd all still done so. And they didn't recognize each other or talk to each after doing that. Except for Hikari recognizing or talking to Mizuki, by the way, for all the obvious reasons. After a little more time passed for them all, they each left the warehouse one at a time. Except in the quite-obvious case of Hikari and Mizuki, of course. They didn't see anyone else as they each then did so, not even one of the other Senshi that they'd come to the warehouse with, in fact. Each of them soon returned to their respective residences in the local area, just as soon as they could do that well enough now.

Hikari and Mizuki were the last of them to actually return to their respective residences there. They both returned to Hikari's room around 1:45 in the morning, after having either fought in, or observed, a battle with Nabang, and after having been at the warehouse for some considerable length of time now. Five minutes or so, at most, after they climbed back into Hikari's bedroom through her window, they were both quite soundly asleep in their respective beds there.

* * *

The following Saturday, which was Saturday, September 15, 1990, Hikari was unconsciously drawn to the warehouse while Mizuki was otherwise occupied in the area. And so were Kagome and Rumiko, for that matter. When they were each drawn there, they eventually encountered each other there. It was about 11 or so in the morning, local time, when they did so well enough. And Kagome was the first of them to speak, when they did so, for that matter.

"What are you two doing here, if I may ask?" Kagome didn't understand yet just why all three of them were here at the current time, and neither did the other two, for that matter. Kagome was now in a knee-length light blue dress with a gold and tan pattern on it, by the way

Rumiko, who was now wearing a red sweater, a black knee-length leather skirt, and black ankle boots, soon answered, "I don't know for sure. At least not at the current time, it seems."

"You're Rumiko Aino, right?" asked Kagome, trying to remember Rumiko's face well enough here. She then extended her hand toward Rumiko as she asked her that right now.

"Yes. We met a while ago at the Athletic Club, if I remember things well enough here." Rumiko took Kagome's hand, and said, as a strange feeling of possible long-ago familiarity suddenly struck her here, "It has been a while, it seems, since we were last together before then."

"What do you mean, Aino-san?"

"I don't really know what I mean. It just seems that we might have met long before eleven days ago, Rikouno-san. Like we knew each other a long time ago, perhaps."

"As far as I can recall, I only met you for the first time eleven days ago, if I'm sufficiently correct here."

"Maybe so. But I still have this strange feeling that we might have somehow met each other long before then, just the same."

Hikari chose that moment to speak for the first time here. She said, "I don't have such a feeling about either of you that I might have known you long ago, Rikouno-tachi. But I do hope that we can get to know each other quite well in the future, just the same, you two."

"I think I'd like that, Tsukino-san," said Rumiko, finally, after a few moments of silence for the three of them here. They then went inside the warehouse, in very short order. And they began to get to know each other at least a little bit better, as they all unconsciously also set to the task of clearing certain things away in it as might then be necessary at the present time.

By 2 in the afternoon, many, if not all, of the warehouse's interior areas were cleared of any unneeded garbage in them. And the girls had begun to fix them up as they then saw fit to do that here. Some time later, they broke for a late lunch with each other. They soon left the warehouse's area behind again, securing it as needed when they did so, of course.

They walked with each other for a while, and eventually came to _MS_, for that lunch. When they got there, a guy who often worked with Hikari asked Tsukino if she was going to be working there on the current day. Hikari said, "No, I'm not planning to, Soushino-san. By the way, these two girls with me are Kagome Rikouno and Rumiko Aino." She indicated which girl was which, of course.

"I'm quite pleased to meet both of you girls now, in fact. I hope to see you both here quite often in the future, for that matter." Hisayuki Soushino was a black-haired guy who was just about five or so years older than Hikari was, and he was now in his second year of college. He was really hoping to do something that was sufficiently related to automobiles when he got done well enough with college in the future, by the way. He'd recently begun work on building some custom cars for certain people in various parts of Japan, but hadn't yet been able to complete one of them for anyone, in fact. He now worked as a manager at MS, in the hopes that he'd be able to make enough money to pay for his college education and save enough money to cover all of his custom car-building business-related expenses on the side. He was also unknowingly a future Knight, though nobody mortal yet knew that well enough, if they ever would, in their lives. Not even him, of course.

He wore his straight black hair short and in a near-crewcut, normally. A necklace with a pendant at its base was now around his neck, but the pendant part of it was currently hidden in its entirety by the top of his duty uniform. This pendant at the base of his necklace had been a gift from his mother, before her death a few years before due to a bus-train crash when her bus had stalled as it had been crossing some railroad tracks.

"As do I," said Kagome, soon shaking his hand, just as soon as he let her do that.

Rumiko, however, kept her hands to herself here, not yet willing to shake his here, if she ever would. She was rather timid in many respects in her life. At least as it pertained to most boys, anyway. She had never had a boyfriend, but had often crushed over various guys, no matter what their skin color was. Rumiko had only a few close friends in her life, and basically only ones that she'd made since her parents' untimely deaths due to an earthquake while they were visiting friends of the family in the United States. After that earthquake, she was eventually escorted back to Japan by her father's younger brother Kazuo, as then needed. After her parents' wills had both been probated as needed, then, she was left with her current Tokyo-area apartment. And she was also left with a considerably-sized inheritance that'd been largely put in trust for her just in case anything happened to her parents, as it actually had come to pass for them and her later on. Her aforementioned uncle served as her adult lookout as often as he could, with help from his wife, of course.

"Aino-san, aren't you going to shake Soushino's hand here?" asked Kagome, in very short order.

"No, I don't think so, Rikouno-san. I don't really think it's very appropriate for me to do that right now, seeing as I just met the guy in my life." Rumiko was very shy around a lot of people, and rarely would touch them if she didn't have to. At least since her parents' tragic deaths, anyway.

Rumiko had been the only child for her parents, even though they'd tried to have others both before and after her birth. As that had been the case for her, they'd really treasured her quite a lot in their lives. She'd been born to Masanobu Aino and his wife, the former Meljuresa Wazzala. They had met in college, and eventually married. Some considerable length of time later, then, they finally produced Rumiko, as already stated.

Hikari asked, "Have you ever even had a boyfriend, if I might ask you this, Aino-san?" She asked this as the three girls moved elsewhere in the establishment, by the way.

"No, I haven't. And I don't know if I really want to have one right now, for that matter, in my life."

When she was not yet eleven years old, then, she lost her parents, which hit her very hard indeed. She'd really been quite close to them in her life. And she was now roughly fourteen or so years old in it. "I'm not in the mood for such things right now, it seems, in my life. I mean, what's the point of having one when your world might shake apart at any time, parting you from the ones that you care about very much in your life?"

"I don't understand, Aino-san," said Kagome, as they sat down in a booth big enough for several people along one wall of the establishment, in fact.

"I don't want a boyfriend right now, Rikouno-san. I'm afraid that they'll leave me like my parents did," said Rumiko, a few rather quiet minutes later, after the girls had all ordered some food and drink items for themselves here.

"I don't understand, Aino-san," said Rikouno, as she then sipped from a glass of water in her left hand at the present time.

"I lost my parents at least a few years ago, and I've not really been interested in actually having a boyfriend ever since, Rikouno-san." The girls' food and drink items arrived before she could say anything else at the current time.

Both Hikari and Kagome went quite silent seconds later, for the obvious reasons, of course. And the three girls had their lunch with each other, as they considered the things that they'd just learned about each other. After a while, Hikari eventually asked, "Rikouno-san, what about you, if I may ask?"

"The usual crushes, of course. But no boyfriends. Or at least not yet, anyway. And what about you, Hikari?"

"I've done a little looking as well, but nothing I've really settled on just yet. Perhaps a rather good guy is actually waiting somewhere out there just for me. Though I don't really know just who he might prove to be yet in my life, for all the obvious reasons, Rikouno-san."

"Call me Kagome, and just Kagome, if and whenever possible in the future, if you'd like. For I now have this feeling that we might actually happen to see each other quite often in the future, somehow. I don't know just why yet, if I ever will. But I still do, just the same."

"Very well, you can call me Hikari, then, if and whenever possible, in it, in like manner."

"I think I want you girls to continue calling me Aino-san, at least for the time being, if and whenever possible," said Rumiko, suddenly, in between bites of some chicken from her plate.

"As you wish," both girls soon answered, after first briefly looking at each other here and now. "But we still wish that you might call us Hikari and Kagome, if and whenever possible."

"I'll think about it. But please don't be surprised and/or upset if I don't do that for at least a little while, Tsukino-tachi."

"We won't be, I'm sure, for some yet-unknown reason." The rest of their late lunch was basically spent in relative silence here, if and whenever possible. After they felt they'd all had enough for their lunches here, Hikari covered their tip, and Kagome their lunch tab. Which meant that Rumiko didn't have to pay anything for the food and drink items consumed during their lunch here, of course.

The three girls soon walked back to the warehouse, and went back to their work there as they then saw the need or desire arise for them there. They were back there by 4:15 in the afternoon. And Mizuki still wasn't there, by the time they did so, in fact. They worked there until about 6:15 in the evening, after which Kagome asked if it was all right for her to go back home again, for that matter.

"Do you want us to go there with you at all?" asked Hikari.

"No, I don't think that might be necessary. At least not yet, anyway, Hikari," said Kagome.

"Okay, then, Kagome. Have a safe enough journey back there, if at all possible."

"Of course, Hikari. I'll see what I can do in that regard. Meanwhile, I suppose I'll see you again later in school, if not sooner than that."

Kagome soon left Hikari and Rumiko alone in the warehouse here. After they both watched her go, Rumiko eventually asked, "Hikari, do you wish you were an only child?"

"No, I don't. Why do you ask?"

"I am, or at least I was, an only child for my parents. I miss them so much. What's it normally like having siblings?" The two girls picked up a large flag with some space-related items on it that was near them both now, and they both began folding it here.

"Often quite hectic, at certain times of the year, for all of the obvious reasons. But I still wouldn't trade my siblings for anything, if I could possibly avoid it at all. They can be rather annoying at times, I have to admit. But I still really love them, just the same. And whenever I'm feeling down, they can often cheer me up by just yakking about things that they think I might like well enough. Not always, Aino-san, of course. But they still can often do that whenever I'm not happy about certain things in my life."

"I see. Why don't you wish you were an only child sometimes?" Rumiko folded the last part of the flag as needed, and then found a suitable cabinet to put it in at the current time.

"Because I'm not really the kind of girl who normally likes being alone a great deal in her life, it seems to me, Aino-san." Hikari soon picked up a nearby broom and dustpan, and swept up some loose papers then on the ground near her in the warehouse. After doing that for a little while here, she briefly looked them over before throwing most of them away. Hikari threw the papers she chose to throw away in a nearby garbage can, and then carried them to a good-sided dumpster outside the warehouse, in very short order.

The two of them mainly continued working until about 7 pm local time. And they did that in relative silence here, for that matter. Around that time, then, Rumiko suddenly said, "Tsukino-san, do you think you could walk home with me this evening, by any chance?"

"Very well. I'll be glad to, of course."

A little while later, then, they both set off for Rumiko's apartment. On the way there, several young people began following them. First without their knowledge, and then with it. Once they both had realized sufficiently well that they were then being followed, they began mentally preparing for a possible confrontation with those same people, of course.

About a block away from where Rumiko's apartment was elsewhere in Tokyo, then, several people of both genders surrounded them both, blocking their current ways toward it. Two minutes or so later, then, a rather big wannabe gangster-type guy began trying to bother them directly. Especially Rumiko, in fact. Both girls then fought for several minutes, trying to defend themselves well enough, of course. It wasn't easy for them to do that, but they still tried to do that, just the same. They had to fight off about one or two dozen older teens and college-aged people for a while, by the way. Just before they were about to fall down too seriously to the ground, two Knights showed up all of a sudden, and began aiding them in their current battle for their own safeties here.

About five or so minutes after their mutual intervention in that rather unfair fight, then, most of the girls' assailants were either running for their lives here, in fact. The others were all lying down on the ground or quite near enough to it. That came to be the case for them all after they'd been knocked out of the fight as needed. But they weren't killed here, for all the obvious reasons, of course. After all the gang members who'd actually somehow been able to flee from the scene well enough were quite out of sight here, the Knights said, "If any more activity that might be sufficiently related to your gang ever happens again in this general area, then your gang won't just have to worry about the local police. For it'll also have to really worry about the Sun, Moon, and Earth Corporation, and about certain people who actually associated with it here and now. And especially if it ever happens again, somehow, to any young girls at all who might be present around here. Girls such as these two girls here, for example. Please take that message to your leaders, and make absolutely sure that they get the message quite clearly indeed. The next time something like this ever happens around here, there could actually be quite serious repercussions for your gang and its assorted members. That's if we somehow find out that your particular gang's sufficiently responsible for it." Both Knights said all those things here, between the two of them, for that matter.

"We concede this turf to the Sun, Moon, and Earth Corporation, then. We'll not be back here again, if we can possibly avoid it at all, in the future."

"Good. Don't forget to tell your gang's leaders that. This will be your only warning about such things here, for your information," said the Earth Knight.

"Understood. We'll do that just as soon as we can. We promise," said all the remaining gang members in the area, for that matter.

"See that you do, and you should probably pass it along to any other group you might also be in contact with in this city, as well, while you're at it," said the Sun Knight.

"If we can, we'll do so, just as soon as we could. However, we don't really know if they might believe us well enough, for the obvious reasons."

"If they don't, then they'll have to face the consequences, if we know you've tried to pass along that information to any or all of the other groups in the city. If not, then your gang will have to, in fact," said the Earth Knight. The gang members still here quite obviously nodded their complete understanding of those conditions at the present time. After they did so, the Knights soon left the area with the girls that they'd just rescued earlier, escorting both girls back home to their respective residences as needed or desired here. Or at least as close as they could get to each of them, for that matter. They eventually parted from Hikari about a block away from her residence, after she made them do so here well enough. She didn't see either of them for the rest of the evening or night, by the way.

Hikari came back to her room through the window, after climbing the necessary tree again, and moving to the roof near it. When she did that here well enough to suit her sufficiently well, then, it was nearly 8 in the evening, local time. She soon cleaned herself up as best as she could before leaving her room again in order to eat supper with her family, of course. Hikari couldn't cover all the bruises that the gang members had left on her skin completely. For she now had several abrasions on the back of her hands, for instance. She did what she could for her various hurts, and then joined her family for supper, as she'd often done in the past.

When they saw her, her mother soon asked, quite startled, for the obvious reasons, "What happened to you, Hikari?" She asked that just as soon as everyone had gotten enough food and drink items for themselves to consume here, for that matter.

"A friend of mine and I encountered some trouble-makers near her place, and we had to fight them off. We would have been hurt more seriously, probably, if two strangers hadn't helped us defend ourselves against them. They helped us out and kept those trouble-makers from doing what they probably were looking to do to us well enough. And they escorted us as closely as they could to our respective residences, if not entirely to them. I'll be fine, Mother. They won't ever be bothering me or my friend again, thanks to our two strange rescuers, I'm quite sure. Or at least I don't expect them to try to be so foolish in the future, anyway."

Hikari's father said, "I really hope so. For I don't want to see anything bad happen to you or to your friends in the future, of course, Hikari. Now let's continue with supper here, if we may." Everyone then did so, periodically conversing with each other as the need or desire then struck them here. By 8:45, everyone had finished whatever they'd chosen to have for supper with each other, and began to part from each other for the rest of the evening or night, as the case might be for them all.

Around 9, then, Hikari finally returned to her room again. By the time she did that, Mizuki was finally there again. Mizuki was sitting on Hikari's bed as she came back into her own bedroom, by the way. Mizuki eventually saw Hikari's visible injuries here. And soon enough, once it was quite safe enough for them to do so here, the two of them got to talking about the various events of their days.

Hikari told Mizuki about her working at the warehouse with Kagome and Rumiko, for instance. And about what they'd done while there, as needed or desired, then. Mizuki soon smiled, after Hikari's report on how things had started to look better around the warehouse they were hopefully going to be able to use quite often in the future.

After Hikari had shared enough information about the current day, at least as of the current time, she soon asked Mizuki where she'd spent most of her day. Mizuki said, "Exploring the area more, and passing certain things along through animal-related grapevines of a sort. Word has it that there is a yellow, red, and black tomcat also exploring the Tokyo local area, and that there is a human master associated with him sufficiently well. I haven't found out his name yet, but I aim to learn it just as soon as I can. And if he might decide to try to steal some of the territory I've already claimed for myself in the city, while I'm at it, in fact."

About ten minutes or so before 11, then, more or less, both of them began to wind down here for the rest of the night. And it didn't take them too much longer for them both to do that here and now, by the way. Both of them were in their respective beds by 11:15. And they were both quite soundly asleep in them by 11:30, at the very latest, while they were both still at it here.

* * *

The next chapter of this particular story will be up soon enough here, if at all possible. If you have any good enough ideas for possible pairings of the main characters, as long as they are male-female in nature, I'm quite willing to hear them, in fact. I really hope that you all might come to enjoy this story and its related series quite a bit, of course. Please read and review quite constructively, if at all possible, quite often, if and whenever you might so choose, people. Until later, then, this is The Universal Storyteller saying, "Over and out!" 


	7. Chapter Six

Sailor Moon and all related characters or concepts, et cetera, belong to Naoko Takeuchi and all sufficiently related parties, unless otherwise stated. However, in this version of things, at least, all the Senshi/Scouts, et cetera, who are from the main dimension of this story series are MINE, and only MINE, unless I say otherwise here. While the Senshi/Scouts in this story and its series may actually use the exact same combat identities as the canon Senshi/Scouts, they're not necessarily the same as them in their respective lives, for your information. Please do try to keep that in mind while you read this story and any others that might follow it in its series, people.

Now with no further ado, let's get on with the story here, if we may. And I really hope that you enjoy it quite a lot, of course, everyone. Please read and review often, then, in quite constructive manners, if and whenever possible and desired. This is The Universal Storyteller now saying, "Over and out!"

* * *

Chapter Six

On Thursday, September 20, 1990, right after school, Mizuki found Hikari heading toward the park that she'd been at two weeks earlier. And she found her before Hikari could get there. When it was safe enough for her to do so now, she told Hikari to forget about going to the park until after the meeting with the necessary people Hikari had asked her to try to get in touch with. Hikari had forgotten about that meeting in the past few days, and only remembered it after Mizuki refreshed her memory about it here well enough.

After that happened, Hikari changed her plans here, of course. She then went straight home, and didn't stop off at the park first, for the obvious reasons. Her mother was surprised to see her home so soon after school, and Hikari said, "I just remembered an appointment I now have to attend to that I'd forgotten about for a while. I don't know just how long it will be before I can go to the park as I've often done on Thursdays, if at all today, in fact. I really have to get ready for that appointment now, it seems. Don't expect me home until at least 9, please, for I don't know yet just how long this appointment of mine will take here. Oh, and by the way, I'm going there with Mizuki."

"Very well. I hope you have a good one, then."

"God willing, I will, of course."

"You've decided to call that cat hanging around you a lot of late 'Mizuki?' Interesting name, I must say, Hikari. Where'd you find her?"

"After school one day, and I rescued her from boys who were picking on her quite a bit."

"Have you been taking care of her as needed, then?"

"Of course I have, Mother. I've been taking care of her since shortly after I rescued her, in fact. I think we'll be seeing quite a bit of her in the future, if and whenever possible, by the way."

"You can keep her, then, as long as you continue to do so here, Hikari. Are you sure she doesn't actually belong to anyone else, for that matter?"

"She doesn't, Mom. Trust me on this. I know somehow that she doesn't. I can't really go into details right now about how I might know that now, if ever. Just so you know that well enough here, in fact."

Then Hikari and Mizuki headed directly up to Hikari's room, with no further delay here at all. And they both soon afterward began looking for suitable enough clothes for Hikari to wear to that appointment that she'd just told her mother about here. After about half an hour or so of looking for some suitable enough clothes to wear to it, Hikari finally settled herself on a knee-length mostly silver dress with gold and copper trim on it, mostly trailing down the left side of her dress in the approximate style of several interlocking vines, from about shoulder-level to just about the hemline on it. The specific dress that she chose to wear to that very same meeting here was one with silver shoulders that were similar to the white shoulders of her Senshi uniform, in fact. Along the square neckline, where possible, there were several medium-sized chrysanthemums in gold and copper present as well. Her shoulders had no trim on them. And most of both her upper arms were completely bare. Her own elbows had completely gold-colored cuffs for her elbow-length mostly silver gloves. Her gloves also had, on the back of the hands for them, some chrysanthemums, for that matter. One chrysanthemum was in basically in copper on both gloves, while the other mums on them were basically gold, arranged in a perfect circle around the copper mum also present on them. As for the rest of her outfit, she then chose to put on a pair of silver one-inch heels with a single mostly silver chrysanthemum flower on the front panel of them, and the same earrings that she'd generally worn as Sailor Moon to date. The mostly silver chrysanthemum on her heels' front panels had gold and copper petals, as well as some trim for the mum in either gold or copper, if and whenever appropriate enough, by the way. As for her transformation brooch, she put it in a small purse that matched her chosen attire here quite well, of course.

Hikari showered and dressed in her chosen attire by 4:30 in the afternoon. When she eventually came out of the shower, and fully dressed, at that, she then went to a nearby mirror in her bedroom. And she then put her hair up in its usual hairstyle, in very short order. After she did that well enough here, and she was satisfied enough with her current appearance, she asked Mizuki what she actually thought of it, at least from her current point of view here.

Mizuki said, "Somewhat interesting, to say the least, I think. I really hope that you'll be able to walk quite well in your silver heels, of course."

"I have been known to wear heels, at least occasionally, before. Not actually very often, mind you, Mizuki. But still often enough for me and many others to be fairly used to my wearing of them by now in my life, I think."

"Are you actually going to put on any makeup right now, by any chance, Hikari?"

"No, I don't think that I should do that here. At least not right now, Mizuki."

"Fine, Hikari. Then I suppose you're sufficiently ready to leave here."

"How much money should I bring with me, if I actually have that much available to me at present?"

"Perhaps the equivalent of about $15,000 in American currency."

"That's going to be a considerable hit to what's left of my current savings."

"Maybe so, Hikari. But it still might be necessary here, just the same. That way, the people you'd be meeting might see that you're serious enough about possibly acquiring the property in question here. Not that you'd necessarily need to give them that much money to buy it easily enough. But it might be at least enough money to convince them of your serious interest in acquiring that property here, by the way."

"That'll require that I visit my primary bank, then, Mizuki. You'd have to wait outside while I'd get that money, of course."

"If that's necessary, then so be it. But just get that money, if you possibly can, Hikari, before the meeting at 6 this evening."

"If the meeting is at 6, then we'd best get ourselves moving out just as soon as we possibly can from here, Mizuki."

"Of course, Hikari. Let's just let your mother know we're leaving here shortly, then."

So the two of them did that, in very short order here, before setting off toward the necessary places elsewhere in the area. By 4:45, they were outside Hikari's primary bank. Mizuki waited outside for Hikari to return to her for about ten to fifteen minutes, at most. And Hikari exited that bank again with all of the required money in her possession just a few moments before 5 in the afternoon. Both of them then set off for a certain office building in the local area, while Hikari still kept all her currently-available money in her subspace pocket here, for the obvious reasons. They both arrived at the required office building by 5:30, at the very latest, and in the necessary corporate location's waiting room by 5:45 pm, local time, for that matter. The building's security staff actually made no attempt to keep Mizuki from entering the building with Hikari, having earlier been given orders to that effect by the office building's primary tenant. Which was, by the way, actually the Sun, Moon, and Earth Corporation.

At 6, a receptionist escorted them both to a large conference room in that corporation's office suite, with no further delay, when the need for her to do that then arose well enough there. Even Mizuki, for that matter, while she was at it.

When the two of them were escorted to certain seats in that darkened conference room, and they were settled well enough into them, an older man's voice soon reached their ears. He said, "Welcome to this place, Miss Tsukino and Mizuki. We've been expecting you both for a little while."

"How do you know our names, sir?" asked Hikari, a few brief moments later.

"We have contacts spread all over the city, and they passed your names along to us as needed. You wanted to meet with us, it seems. About a particular piece of property we have the title on at present, if I remember things well enough here, in fact."

"Yes, that is true. We might be interested in purchasing said property, if the price were right enough for us here."

"May we see it, please, Miss Tsukino?"

"As you wish, sir," said Hikari. A panel suddenly appeared in the table in front of Hikari's seat at the table they were now at here.

"Place the money on top of the panel you now see in front of you, please." Hikari soon complied. A scan of the money she placed there was then done as quickly as possible. After the required scan of it was done sufficiently well now, the unknown voice soon said, "Good. You brought at least enough to buy the property in question, if nothing else as well. We'll start negotiating the terms of your offer for it, then, here and now."

The room's lights gradually began to brighten over the next ten or fifteen minutes, to give the eyes of both Hikari and Mizuki enough time to adjust to the changing amounts of illumination in the room here. As they did so, Hikari and everyone else in the room began discussing the necessary conditions that might be applicable to any possible sale of the property this meeting was meant to cover here.

When the conference room was fully lit as needed here, Hikari soon saw five other people in the room. Two of them, both young males, were in differently-colored masks and formal wear, and three adults were in mostly business-style attire. Only one of the three adults then present was female, and she wore a silver blouse and a black knee-length skirt over a pair of black pumps. Eight silver roses ran from her left shoulder to just above her right hip at a 45 degree angle from top to bottom, about where a sash might be for her, if she'd been wearing one at that time for herself. While the older males of the latter three were currently wearing black business-style suits, trousers, and shoes, where they weren't wearing white shoes or ties mostly in green or orange, for that matter.

The two now-masked males were present largely, though not entirely, as bodyguards of a sort for the adults then in the room. Though their current appearances didn't seem to give off that effect normally to people, for that matter. As soon as Hikari spotted them both well enough, she recognized them somehow. Though she didn't say exactly how she then did that. For she didn't yet understand why they were present there at the current time, if she ever would, while still there with them and the others then with her now.

They were the Sun and Earth Knights, by the way. The Sun Knight was primarily in orange, yellow, and black, while the Earth Knight was mostly in blue, brown and green. Both, though, weren't in the exact same outfits that she'd seen them fight in earlier against other people and monsters, for that matter. They were in the same basic colors as they'd been at those times now. But they weren't presently in their Knight uniforms, just the same.

When Hikari asked why they were there at the meeting, the older of the two males here said, "They're part of our security staff, whenever possible, here at the Sun, Moon, and Earth Corporation. They call themselves 'Sun Knight' and 'Earth Knight,' normally, whenever we might deal with them in our lives. We just hired them as security personnel a few weeks or so ago, if I remember things well enough here, by the way, Miss Tsukino. We don't know just who they are whenever they're not actually working for us at all, however."

In fact, they were Soruno and Chiba, respectively, but nobody mortal enough yet knew that at all, if they ever would. Eventually, the two Knights, at least, if not anyone else as well, would learn that they were not only Soruno and Chiba, but that they were also Knights, in their respective lives. That was still quite a while int the future, though.

As the meeting continued on for quite a while longer, Hikari began to get a rather bad feeling that something big might be about to happen in the general area of the office building she and Mizuki were now in here. And after it started to bother her quite considerably, she asked for a temporary recessing of their current meeting, so that she could do some personal-related business. The adults soon let her do that well enough here. Then she hurried out of the room with Mizuki in close pursuit here, for that matter.

* * *

Hikari soon set off for the nearest ladies' restroom in the building, of course. As soon as it was quite safe enough for her to do so here, she then took her brooch out of her purse and powered up. Moments later, she and Mizuki were heading back to the conference room together. When they got there, they found the Knights fighting a monster, trying to protect the adults in the room. This monster was quite big indeed, and it actually had climbed up the nearest side of the building, while still cloaked, to the room it, the Knights, the adults, Sailor Moon, and Mizuki were now in. It had cloaked itself quite well until blowing out a large window on the 64th floor of the building. Which was the same floor that it was now on, by the way. That window was one of the windows for the conference room, in fact.

Sailor Moon didn't unnecessarily waste any time at all with making a short speech here, of course. And she engaged the monster as well, just as soon as she could do that well enough here. As for Mizuki, she then began trying to herd all three of the now-present adults out of the room, so that they, at least, would be safe enough at the current time. The adults soon followed, but not before the woman unexpectedly dropped a device that looked like a electronic pad of some sort. Many assorted symbols were present on that pad. Specifically ones that were directly related to certain celestial bodies, by the way. When Mizuki tried to give the pad back to the woman, after a brief look was shared between them both, the woman actually refused it. The woman indicated that Mizuki should give it to Sailor Moon at the earliest possible opportunity, somehow. And then the woman left the room in very short order, just before a barrage of business-style cards with quite sharp edges could hit her or Mizuki well enough here. Mizuki dodged those cards as well, and hurried to where Sailor Moon had briefly ducked a barrage of other office-type supplies from the monster, behind a now-overturned table. Sailor Moon said, "I see you have something in your mouth now, Mizuki. Give it here."

Mizuki immediately complied. Sailor Moon soon saw the symbols, and quickly looked over the pad. As she did so, her fingers suddenly brushed against the symbols for Mars and Mercury. When they did, a split screen suddenly popped up on the pad. And the faces of Rumiko and Kagome popped up on that split screen just a few seconds later, for that matter. Rumiko asked, "What's up, Sailor Moon?"

"Get to the Sun, Moon, and Earth Corporation's main office building just as quickly as you can, you two. There's a Negaverse monster actually fighting me and two Knights there now. We're now on the 64th floor of the applicable building, in a conference room there. Please hurry!" She now knew they were both Sailors Mars and Mercury, at least in terms of their new combat identities.

"How should we come there?"

"Come there however you can. Just hurry! Sailor Moon out!" Sailor Moon closed the channel seconds later, somehow, and then rejoined the fight here.

Fifteen minutes or so later, then, Mars and Mercury appeared in the conference room. They had taken the first available elevator up to the 64th floor of the building, preferring to do that than to go up the outside of the building instead. Especially Kagome/Sailor Mercury, who was normally quite afraid of heights. At least as of the current time in her own life, if she wouldn't always be. Also, she didn't really like very closed-in spaces very much in it, if at all. She actually wanted to take the stairs up to the 64th floor, by the way. But Mars didn't let her, citing the need for them to hurry up and aid Sailor Moon at the current time.

They appeared about fifteen or so minutes after Moon paged them, and saw that the Knights were still having considerable difficulty with the monster here. The Sun Knight's formal wear had taken more damage than the Earth Knight's had, but both Knights had quite a bit of damage present for them both with their formal wear. The monster was especially hard for them to deal with, even with some help against it from Sailor Moon and Mizuki, where possible. Sailor Moon fought with them against the monster to the best of her ability, at least until the other two female Senshi showed up here. Sailors Mars and Mercury joined the battle almost immediately after entering the room, as Mizuki and Sailor Moon ducked behind or under still-present furniture in the room. They used their respective attacks several times, distracting the monster's attention long enough for both Knights to escape the scene for a few minutes, at least. The Knights ran for it as the three Sailors covered their escapes as best as they could do so now. They fled the room in very short order, of course, when that happened well enough.

After the Knights were gone from the room, the Sailors continued fighting the monster. It took them at least another fifteen minutes or so for them to somehow weaken it quite considerably. But they still did so, just the same. Especially after Mizuki had told them all more about the monster in question here. Mizuki had learned more about the monster as the battle had raged, and had been able to find out that the name of the monster, the monster's commander, and maker were all present on one of the business-style cards it'd attacked the Senshi, Knights, and herself with earlier. Not only that, she'd learned how it'd been made, and how to defeat it in battle, for that information was also on one of those cards as well.

The three Senshi then did a combination attack here, weakening it even further. After they did that, two roses suddenly flashed into the room from opposite sides of it. Both Knights were now in their usual fighting uniforms, for that matter. The Earth Knight was in the same outfit that he'd been in the first time Sailor Moon had seen him, while the Sun Knight was in the one that he'd worn when she'd first seen him.

The Sun Knight, unlike the Earth Knight, wasn't now in an outfit that was actually quite similar to that of the Earth Knight's. Instead, he was actually in a fighting uniform that now looked like some sort of fusion between a medieval suit of armor and an electrician's typical outfit. Also, an atom-like design was on the center of his outfit, which was mostly orange, yellow, and black, in its chest area and just a little bit lower than his shoulders and neck for it. The Sun Knight's current fighting uniform was rather no-nonsense in its nature, in direct comparison to that of the Earth Knight's. And a mask somewhat similar to, but not exactly like, the Earth Knight's mask, was also present on his face as was then needed here for it to be. Assorted weapons quite reminiscent of the Sun were on his belt as they then needed to be. While he then held a long sword of some sort in his right hand, hoping to use it if at all possible against the current monster here, of course.

The Knights soon rejoined the battle, and attacked the monster with their swords or whatever other items they then could attack them with here. By doing so, they aided the Senshi as much as they could for at least a little while, by the way. Eventually, the monster had been weakened at least enough for Sailor Moon to finish it off here. After a few very brief comments from Mars, Mercury, Earth Knight, and Sun Knight, Sailor Moon then finished it off in very short order, for the obvious reasons, of course. When that was done well enough, then, the monster turned into dust. And most of her previously-fired cards and other office-related supplies she'd used in the battle either disappeared, or they actually returned to the state they'd each been in before the battle had even begun in the first place, somehow.

As the battle damage began to repair itself as necessary here, the dust began to vanish in very short order. It took a while for it to do so, during which time the five Senshi now present briefly conversed with each other at least a little bit. By the time the Knights took their roses back that they'd tossed earlier, all that damage had largely been repaired, if not entirely. And the dust had largely disappeared in the usual manner, if not entirely, for that matter. After the battle was confirmed to be sufficiently over once and for all here, then, Sailor Moon asked the Knights to make sure that Sailors Mercury and Mars each got back to their respective residences in the area.

The Knights agreed to do that, and soon left to attend to such things, of course. As they did so, Sailor Moon watched them leave the restored room in very short order, before finding Mizuki hiding in a closet near that room for a while. After finding Mizuki in that closet, she soon brought her to the nearest available ladies' restroom, for the obvious reasons. When it was then quite safe enough for her to do so again, Sailor Moon powered down, and became just Hikari Tsukino again. She spent a little time, at least, checking her appearance, among other things, before returning with Mizuki back to the necessary conference room here, by the way.

By the time that she and Mizuki returned there, then, the Knights and the three adults that'd been present earlier in the room were all back there again. The Knights had eventually changed into their spare bodyguard uniforms after having first dropped Sailors Mercury and Mars off at their respective residences in the area, in fact. It was now just after 9 at night, local time.

The rest of the meeting then lasted for about another thirty minutes or so. After which, the adults in the room decided to sell Hikari the warehouse, everything in it that belonged to the corporation, and the area around it that they also owned to a sufficient enough degree. They decided to sell everything that they could from that part of the city to her for the rough equivalent of $11,600 in American money. With her still using Japanese money to make that purchase here, quite obviously enough. They actually sold it all, even the title, to her for that amount of Japanese money. Hikari only had to pay them the agreed price for the property that she'd just purchased, and after she did, the property was all hers, at least in the eyes of everyone then present in the room. The following day would see it unquestionably become quite official after all the necessary things were then done to notify the general public of the just-made sale of all that property, of course.

After the sale had unofficially been made of all the necessary property, the meeting soon ended. And the Knights soon escorted Hikari and Mizuki to the property that Hikari had just bought here, for that matter. They were there by no later than 9:50 at night, local time, in fact. They looked over the property together for a little while, before Hikari asked the Knights to escort her home as best as they could here. Both Knights agreed to do that here for a while, and did so as far as they could. Not all the way home for her, of course, but still as close to them as they then could get to her residence, just the same.

When they were as close to her residence as they then could get,. Hikari soon thanked them both for their escorting of her and her cat back there. And then she and Mizuki parted from them both not too much later, in fact. They were back in Hikari's bedroom again by 11 at night, and in their respective beds by local midnight. Ten to fifteen minutes after that, then, they were both quite soundly asleep in their respective beds, for that matter.

* * *

The following Tuesday, which was September 25, 1990, Hikari was at the Athletic Club after school. It was now just about 6:30 in the evening, and Hikari was swimming with several others in the Athletic Club's main pool area. Near enough to her, at least at the current time, were Trinity, Karen, Kagome, and Rumiko, to name just a few of the people in that general area of the Athletic Club who were now near her here. Trinity wasn't wearing a swimsuit here. For she was now sitting in some bleachers near the pool, periodically watching those who were often swimming in the pool instead. She couldn't actually swim, or at least not very well, if at all. So she always stayed as far away from the water as she actually could, whenever possible, in her life.

Karen, however, among many others, did have a swimsuit on. Karen's swimsuit was mostly green and purple in color, wherever possible, for it. And it was a one-piece swimsuit, for that matter. All the other girls in the pool area were also wearing one-piece swimsuits in assorted colors and styles as they'd then seen fit to wear them, by the way. Karen was now sitting on one edge of the pool near a 4' marker on one side of it. Both of her legs were now dangling in the water from just below her knees downward to her feet.

As for Hikari, she was wearing a gold, silver, and copper swimsuit with a half-back cut and straight shoulder straps about an inch wide apiece. The front of Hikari's suit had a scalloped-neckline look to it, for that matter. And a few stars that were mostly in white were also present on it, in mostly circular patterns, wherever possible, near her abdomen and hips, by the way. She was floating on her back elsewhere in the pool.

Kagome was now wearing a suit somewhat similar in style to Hikari's. But it had a full-back cut, and it was mostly in tan and medium blue, where it then could be. And assorted scroll-like designs then ran from about where her left shoulder was to about where her right hip was, for that matter. She was also wearing a pair of swimming goggles that protected her eyes from whatever chemicals that might be in the water at the current time, as well. Kagome was now sitting near Karen on the same edge of the pool, but still about three or four feet away from Karen's place on it.

Rumiko was wearing a mostly pink and spaghetti-strapped suit with many black-trimmed red hearts appliqued on it that covered much of the suit's front half. Her suit also had a full-back cut to it, and she looked fairly attractive in it. A mostly red swimming cap was then on her head as well. She was now in the pool, swimming in the deep water, and she was a very good swimmer, having been taught to swim from a very young age by her now-deceased parents and several other people she'd known before in her life. She'd actually begun learning how to swim at a year of age, after her parents had enrolled her in some swimming and water safety classes, for her own good. And ever since that time, she'd quite often enjoyed swimming, in her own life.

Rumiko was considering the possibility of someday even trying to get an athletic scholarship to some school in order to swim for them in the future. And she was starting to do so quite seriously indeed, in fact. For she probably would need some sort of scholarship in order to go to school, even with her inheritance. For a rather good-sized portion of her inheritance was still quite unavailable to her until she was at least 18, if not until she was at least 21, in her life. As that was currently the case for her, she'd most likely need to have some kind of scholarship in order to attend college later on in her life, then, after she got out of high school in it.

Rumiko was practicing some butterfly-style strokes where she was currently swimming in the pool, and she was about ten feet away from Hikari as they both were in it. For a while, she swam with butterfly-style strokes, and Hikari did the same with backstroke-style strokes, where necessary for them both here. Eventually, both girls exited the pool, and sat down on chairs near the pool for a little while.

After they both sat down in those chairs, they began conversing with each other, over some juice for them both. Rumiko soon asked, "Were you able to buy the warehouse and the things in and around it well enough, by any chance, Tsukino-san?"

"As a matter of fact, Aino-san, I was. What do you think we should eventually do with it, if we're somehow given enough time to do that at all any length of time in the future?"

"How about actually turning part of it into a restaurant of some sort?" asked Rumiko.

"Run by who? And who would work there, perhaps, for that matter?" asked Hikari.

"I happen to know of at least a few people from various local restaurants who might be suitable enough workers for it." Rumiko slightly crinkled her nose here as she said that, by the way.

"But what if we need to leave all of a sudden, for whatever reason, at times, when said restaurant might then be open, Rumiko?"

"Then we'll leave, of course." Rumiko then brushed a bit of her hair out from in front of her eyes that'd escaped from a mostly red swimming cap still on her head at the present time, in fact.

Kagome soon sat to the direct left of Hikari in another chair near the pool. She heard that last comment from Rumiko here, and then said, "If we did that often enough, people might start to get rather suspicious about us, I think, Rumiko."

Rumiko then began to consider this idea of Hikari's for at least a few minutes, at some length. And she was still doing it here when she, Hikari, Kagome, and Karen, at least, were all suddenly splashed somewhat by a good deal of water from elsewhere in the pool. A boy had suddenly jumped off the nearest diving board to them all, deliberately cannonballing into the pool, as he did that. And his quite sudden entry into the pool had then displaced a quite considerable amount of water from it here, for all the obvious reasons, of course. Just as soon as they all were unquestionably splashed here, or almost as soon as they'd all just been, Rumiko began looking for the certain boy who'd just splashed them here, quite obviously enough.

The boy soon began fleeing the specific pool area that was now in question here. And he then did it just as soon as he saw Rumiko, Hikari, Kagome, and Karen heading toward him well enough here, of course. But he wasn't actually fast enough to completely avoid them all here. And not only because of the posted pool area rules, for that matter, in fact. They all somehow caught up to him here before he could actually get away well enough from them, and into the boys' changing area, for that matter. And Rumiko soon began yelling at him. Not with bad language, by the way, but she still did so. And after she was done yelling at him, the other three girls did the same thing that she'd done with him. Also not with any bad language, just the same, for all the obvious reasons. Even though Karen, at least, had been tempted to use that certain kind of language around him, they all still didn't, even as they all were still yelling at him now.

Eventually, the boy, who turned out to be Susumu Chiba, was able to get away, once the four girls had all tired of yelling at him here, well enough. They all eventually learned from him that Chiba had been dared to cannonball at least once, if not more than once, into the pool by several other boys. Or that if he didn't actually do so at all, that he'd have to let them periodically have a certain number of his rather specially-grown flowers. Specifically certain ones that he'd cultivated rather painstakingly over many long years in his own still-young life. Susumu Chiba was actually hoping to maybe become a professional gardener in the future, if at all possible, somewhere in the world. And he generally preferred to not give any of his specially-grown flowers away too easily at all, if he could possibly avoid it, in his life. He'd been interested in gardening for many years, in fact. It now was one of the assorted professional careers he was seriously thinking about going into for a living. Other professional careers he was thinking about maybe going into were horse-related or sports-related careers of whatever sort might be possible for him in the future, for that matter.

He now was a rather big fan of baseball, American football, basketball, and ice hockey. Especially as they pertained to North American-based pro teams, for that matter. That was largely, if not entirely, due to a much-older relative's influence on him to date in his life. Other well-known sports that somehow interested him considerably as well in it were the sports of tennis and volleyball, but not soccer. He was only a moderate fan, at best, of soccer, in his life. And as for motor sports, he was basically only interested in open-wheel auto racing, if for any area of that sort of thing at all.

Just before Chiba managed to somehow get away well enough, Hikari asked him, "Who put you up to this stunt, Chiba-san?"

He said, "Some other boys, of course. Not the exact same ones that'd dared me to eat lunch with you at school earlier, but others instead of them. The former boys had certain connections of theirs, some of which I might not yet know well enough. And they must have used any or all of them to get certain others to actually dare me to do what I did near you earlier."

"I see, Chiba-san. So they're apparently hiring out toughs to do their dirty work whenever they can't actually do it themselves in their lives, from what I can gather here well enough."

"It seems so, Tsukino-san." Chiba frowned briefly here, even as he said that.

"So I guess some people will eventually need to be taught a lesson, if at all possible, just as soon as they can be here, Chiba-san." Hikari's anger began to rise again under the surface, as she said that.

"If you say so. Just don't do anything that might get yourself in trouble, Tsukino-san. The police have stepped up their patrols and shift strengths quite a bit of late, for that matter. Especially since at least a few rather strange monsters have appeared in the area of late, of course." Chiba began inching toward the nearest boys' changing room in the Athletic Club.

"Noted, Chiba-san. Do you know them well enough yet to tell me who they are, then?"

"No, not yet, Tsukino-san. But should I keep you posted, just the same?"

"Of course, Chiba-san."

After a little more time passed for Chiba, Rikouno, Tsukino, Hino, and Sasaki here, the four girls finally let Chiba leave them here well enough. It wasn't much later, after they did so, that they went to the nearest available ladies' changing room in the Athletic Club. It was sometime around 8:30, local time, by the time they did so well enough. They soon showered and changed into other clothes as needed or desired in their respective lives. Even Hikari, by the way.

She escorted Rumiko and Kagome back to their respective residences in the area, as needed, before eventually returning home herself. No trouble came to any of the girls as they returned as needed to their respective residences, for that matter. Hikari arrived home at her family's residence by 9:15 or so at night, local time, in fact. When she got there, she soon went to her bedroom again, after doing whatever else she then needed to do before most likely going there for the rest of the night. No matter what it might be, she still did that, just the same.

She was in her room and changed into some sleepwear there by 10, at the very latest. After getting there, Hikari studied for a while before bedtime. And she did whatever else she then had to with her homework before that time. Even as Mizuki asked her about her day, she still did that, just the same. When she'd finally done all of her necessary homework before bedtime, she set all of the necessary things aside again as then required for her here.

And quite soon afterward, Hikari then climbed into her own bed here. After doing that well enough here, she then spent most of the time from about 11:45 pm to about 12:10 am actually telling Mizuki all about her day, both at school and after it. Though not about all of it, for all of the obvious reasons, in fact. Eventually Mizuki also shared certain information about her own day with Hikari, until nearly 12:20 or so in the morning, local time, at the very latest. After both of them had shared whatever information they'd just shared with each other here well enough, they soon curled up in their respective beds, and went to sleep. They were both quite soundly asleep again in them by 12:30 in the morning, at the very latest, for that matter.

* * *

The next chapter of this particular story will be up soon enough here, if at all possible. If you have any good enough ideas for possible pairings of the main characters, as long as they are male-female in nature, I'm quite willing to hear them, in fact. I really hope that you all might come to enjoy this story and its related series quite a bit, of course. Please read and review quite constructively, if at all possible, quite often, if and whenever you might so choose, people. Until later, then, this is The Universal Storyteller saying, "Over and out!" 


	8. Chapter Seven

Sailor Moon and all related characters or concepts, et cetera, belong to Naoko Takeuchi and all sufficiently related parties, unless otherwise stated. However, in this version of things, at least, all the Senshi/Scouts, et cetera, who are from the main dimension of this story series are MINE, and only MINE, unless I say otherwise here. While the Senshi/Scouts in this story and its series may actually use the exact same combat identities as the canon Senshi/Scouts, they're not necessarily the same as them in their respective lives, for your information. Please do try to keep that in mind while you read this story and any others that might follow it in its series, people.

Now with no further ado, let's get on with the story here, if we may. And I really hope that you enjoy it quite a lot, of course, everyone. Please read and review often, then, in quite constructive manners, if and whenever possible and desired. This is The Universal Storyteller now saying, "Over and out!"

* * *

Chapter Seven

The following Saturday, which was September 29, 1990, Hikari was at the warehouse that she'd just purchased the week before for a rather cheap price from the Sun, Moon, and Earth Corporation. And she was then working on cleaning it up more and more as even more time passed for her there. Also there with her, at the current time, were Rumiko and Kagome. Aino and Rikouno were helping her clean up the area in and around the warehouse as much as they both then could well enough. As they did so, Mizuki was watching them all do that. And she periodically gave them all her advice or her opinions about certain things they all were either doing, or wondering about, at the current time in their lives, for that matter, if and whenever needed or desired. Supposing that she could somehow actually do either of those things, if not both of them, well enough then, of course.

The three girls had all gotten up by 8 in the morning, local time. And they'd all prepared to work together on getting the warehouse and its immediate vicinity, at least, to be much more presentable, if and wherever they could then do that well enough. When Hikari's parents, for example, asked where she was going, she told them that she was going to work on a project that she'd recently begun working on in her life. They asked no more questions about her plans for the day, if and wherever they could avoid doing so at all.

Rumiko headed straight to the warehouse area from her place, and ran into no trouble at all as she did that, in fact. She brought whatever supplies and other things that the girls might need with her when she came, for that matter, as long as she could handle them well enough to do just that now, of course. Especially things that actually had at least a little bit to do with one of her current interests in her life. That specific interest of hers at the current time was archery. She brought a few awards for archery that she'd earned at a few summer camps before her parents' unfortunate demises years before, for instance, with her when she came there on the current day. And she soon afterward placed them all on a long shelf quite near the main door of her main room in the warehouse. Rumiko did this here to provide some basic amounts of decoration for at least the time being, if not permanently, quite obviously enough.

It was now just before 10 in the morning, local time. As Kagome held open a trash bag, Hikari then dumped a few things in it that she'd just scooped up from a floor in the warehouse. Hikari then asked, "Do you have a big family, by any chance, Kagome?"

"As a matter of fact, I have three older sisters, and four older brothers. I actually am the youngest of the entire bunch, and my nearest sibling is about two or three years older than I am now. Four of my siblings are now married, two are now engaged, and one is now going somewhat steady with their current boyfriend, but they haven't yet been engaged to anyone in their life. My nearest brother is engaged, as is my second-nearest sister. While my nearest sibling, who's obviously my nearest sister as well, is now dating a college-age student. And my other sister and my other three brothers have each been married for at least two or three years apiece to their respective spouses." Kagome smiled briefly, after saying all those things here.

"And do they know yet that you're Sailor Mercury now?" asked Rumiko.

"I don't believe so, Aino-san. At least I hope that they don't, of course," commented Kagome.

Hikari then let Kagome close and tie off the applicable trash bag as needed here, before setting her current broom and dustpan on top of, or near, as needed, a workbench where they now were working near each other. Then Hikari asked, "Kagome, do you like to make a lot of things out of wood, for instance?"

"Things like what, for example, Hikari?" Mizuki suddenly left the warehouse, for some yet-unknown reason here.

"Carvings and the like, mainly," answered Hikari, a few seconds later.

"I have occasionally been known to carve things in wood, but not very often, Hikari. I normally spend quite a lot of my free time in reading, or in playing assorted board games, for instance, whenever I possibly can do that at all. Board games such as Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, and Othello, by the way, most often, whenever I might play board games in my life."

"I see. How good are you at such games, normally, whenever you're playing them, Kagome?"

"Normally, I'm quite good at them, and others in the same basic vein of things. But sometimes I still make big enough mistakes to cost me at least some, if not a lot of, games in certain tournament competitions I often enter, whenever possible."

"Have you won any trophies for tournaments in the past? By that, I mean trophies for very good placings in any tournaments, of course, Kagome."

"I've won several trophies, and not just minor ones, from assorted tournaments of various kinds that I've been in before. I don't always place highly in tournaments, mind you, but I often do fairly well in many of them, by the way, Hikari." The three girls then washed their hands behind a sink they'd found near the workbench that Hikari had set her broom and dustpan on or near several moments before.

The three girls soon sat down on top of some medium-sized crates for a little while. And they sat down behind an improvised table they'd made by putting a good-sized board on top of several milk jugs then there with them. But they did that only after Rumiko first set down some food and drink items she'd retrieved from a small refrigerator that Hikari had brought there some time before, in fact. Among those things she set on top of that table of sorts were some donuts and grape juice, for instance.

After everything that she'd put on that table was there well enough to suit her here enough, the girls soon took a pastry and a glass of grape juice apiece. They had just decided to take a short break, after working for at least a little while in the warehouse. As Hikari took a caramel nut donut for herself, Kagome asked Rumiko, "Aino-san, is it often quite lonely for you in your place?"

"Yes, I suppose you can say that, Rikouno-san. It is often quite lonely indeed. I have gotten used to being alone more and more as time passes for me in my life, without my parents around me all the time."

"I see. And do you like this loneliness?"

"No, of course not. I wish my parents were still around. But they'll never be around me, in person, again in my life, unfortunately, Rikouno-san. People have tried to cheer me up about such things, but they've just made me feel even more lonely, often, when they've actually done so. Most likely, they haven't done it intentionally, but they still have, just the same. I'm still in the grieving process for them both. I know it's been a few years since they left, but I still am in it, for your information."

"I see. I hope that things go much better for you in the future, of course, Rumiko. I'll try to remember you're still missing your parents, for as long and as well as I can, in it, then."

"Thank you. I'd really appreciate it if you could do that well enough, then, Rikouno-san."

Hikari then said, "So will I, if I possibly can, for that matter."

"Thank you, Tsukino-san."

Just then, as all three girls were about to take bites of their current donuts or sips of their current glasses of juice, Hikari heard the sounds of some screaming elsewhere in the warehouse's general area. Hikari soon said, "Oh, great! More potential trouble here!"

"What do you mean?" asked Kagome.

"I'm hearing screaming from several blocks or so away from here now. I suppose another monster has decided to try to cause trouble in our city here, Kagome. I don't know exactly where it is coming from yet, in fact. But I still know that it seems more trouble has just decided to arise elsewhere in it."

Mizuki then flashed into the warehouse again. She shouted, "Power up, Senshi! Trouble's arising at an art museum in the area. Let's deal with it!"

Almost immediately, then, in some rather brief showers of light, the three girls all powered up into their respective Senshi states of being. And then they set off for where the trouble then was arising in the city, of course. Even as they all wondered just what kind of monster or kinds of monsters they might have to fight when they got there, of course.

While they were still en route to the necessary art museum, Sailor Mercury activated her visor, hoping to gain at least some information about their soon-to-be foe or foes here, obviously enough. It soon began spitting out various bits and pieces of information as often and as well as it could do that well enough. It provided at least some useful information by the time the three Senshi got to the art museum then in question here. But still not enough for her to have all the necessary information by that time, in fact.

The Senshi made a rather brief combined speech, before they began fighting with the monster. Which had been fully intent on either draining energy from many people then there or trying to damage or destroy assorted artwork there, by the time they'd gotten there. The monster was quite a handful for both Sailors Moon and Mars, as they tried to protect each other and Sailor Mercury, who was still trying to figure out how they could defeat the monster in question well enough. The monster was about eight or so feet tall, with eight arms and two legs, and it often had assorted things in its eight hands, during the battle. Sometimes even assorted items of artwork, for that matter. All the Senshi quite often had to try to dodge flying artwork or huge blobs of paint, for instance, sent their ways by the monster, who eventually identified herself as Nauldor, servant of Jadeite, a General of the Negaverse.

Eventually, Sailor Mercury was able to come up with a suitable plan here for them all. She suddenly shouted, "Your currently-mischievous presence is certainly noisome and definitely unsalubrious in nature! It's time for you to take a permanent pratfall! Prepare for your total bankruptcy to hoist yourself on your own petard! Mercury Knowledge Contemplation!" As she said that last bit here, her catapult of sorts with many lamps in it appeared, and soon launched those lamps toward their current enemy. Nauldor couldn't avoid being trapped in another cage of sorts formed by them, of course. No matter how much she tried to avoid it, she still couldn't avoid it at all here.

Seconds later, then, Mars and Moon combined attacks of theirs, and Nauldor began taking hits from them here. She also hit all three female Senshi at least once apiece, if not more, before three roses suddenly flashed between three of those attacks of Nauldor's, blocking them from the Senshi they'd been launched at here. Two were the usual colors for each of them, while the third was a mostly purple rose with white and dark green tips wherever possible on it.

After those same three roses blocked Nauldor's attacks toward the three female Senshi, and landed between Nauldor and each of the Sailors, as needed, three Knights appeared from three different directions in the art museum here. Of course, two of them were the Earth Knight and the Sun Knight. But the third Knight was still unidentified here well enough. The third Knight now here was currently in a fighting uniform that looked like some sort of unusual fusion between a suit of armor and a military uniform of some sort. Quite obviously, just like the other two Knights, he also had a half-mask on his face, and it was mostly purple with white and dark green trim wherever possible for it here. There were a lot of concealed pockets for his fighting uniform here, as well, for that matter. In each of his hands, he now held a three-pronged sai. And assorted other weapons were elsewhere on his person, whether they were currently inside his uniform or not.

The Knights soon made rather brief speeches just like the Sailors had earlier done, and launched a few attacks of their own against the not-yet-defenseless Nauldor here. Many, but not most, of them were reasonably effective against her here. Eventually, though, Nauldor was weakened enough for Sailor Moon to finish her here well enough. And after she was weakened that much here, Sailor Moon then moondusted her, of course.

As Nauldor soon turned to dust, Sailor Moon asked the yet-unidentified Knight, "Who are you, strange Knight, if I may ask you this here?"

"I am Jupiter Knight, representing the planet of War created by God long ago. I gladly shall serve alongside you in the future, if you mind not too much, Sailor Moon. I certainly would be most willing to lend my strength whenever needed to your current struggle against the forces of evil that have now begun trying to spoil this world of ours, if needed or desired by you, young Lunar warrior."

Sailor Moon thought about this for a few moments, before saying, "Very well, you may aid us in the future, if and whenever possible, Jupiter Knight. We will be watching you for a while, though, in order to be sure that your intentions to do that are completely sincere, of course."

"I understand. And such is a wise thing for you to do here, Sailor Moon. I hope to often find myself at your side in the future, in later battles."

Of course, that naturally got the other two Knights somewhat upset, at least. And they soon began to complain that he was now trying to make a few moves on Sailor Moon here. But Sailor Moon soon silenced them both with a few rather brief looks and words to them both as she then saw fit to give or say to them both here. Moments later, the dust from what had been Nauldor disappeared completely, in the exact same manner as the dust from previous enemies of the Senshi had done, in fact. And after it did so well enough, without any doubt at all, the now-six Senshi soon vacated the area here, for all the obvious reasons, of course.

They all headed in very short order to the warehouse, including the still-unaware Jupiter Knight, by the way. They soon arrived back there. And Mizuki was quite surprised to see another Knight actually enter it with the Sailors, quite naturally enough. Eventually, though, she relaxed a bit, and showed Jupiter Knight to his future room or rooms in the warehouse, still with him being quite unaware of his current appearance here. She soon left him there, not to see him again for the rest of the current day, most likely.

None of the others saw him as well after they each left the warehouse behind later that day. Or at least not for several hours, if at all, on it, in fact. Eventually, all the Knights had left the warehouse behind again, all while still powered up as they did so here. The three Sailors stayed at the warehouse quite a bit longer than the Knights did, of course. And they all finished their respective lunches before they then did so, besides doing even more work here between themselves as well.

The girls each left the warehouse again only after they'd all powered down, for all the obvious reasons. And they eventually arrived back at their respective residences in the area. First Rumiko, then Kagome, and then Hikari and Mizuki, as then needed or desired for them all here, for that matter. Rumiko left the warehouse at 5:30, Kagome at 6:15, and Hikari and Mizuki at 6:35. All of them were back at their respective residences by 7, at the very latest. And they all notified each other just as soon as they each were back in their respective residences, quite obviously enough.

They didn't actually see each other for the rest of the evening or night, then, after they'd each done that here. Hikari eventually showered and changed into some more casual clothes of hers. For she actually had just decided to go for another walk in very short order. She soon told Mizuki to stay home while Hikari then did so here. Mizuki didn't think it'd be a good idea for Hikari to go out again on the current night, but Hikari didn't listen to her here, in fact.

Hikari ate supper with her family, and then told them that she was going out for another walk for a while. They agreed not to wait up for her, if she wasn't home by 10 or so. And then she gathered up all the necessary things she might need while still walking in the area. That done, she soon left her family's residence again, and set off for wherever her feet might take her at the present time.

In time, her feet led her to the park that Soruno had stolen her book from her in. When she got there, she soon saw Soruno reading her book on a bench there. She thought for a few moments, when she was still about twenty or so yards away from him, before eventually pulling a large water gun of some sort out of her subspace pocket. And before filling it with water from a faucet on the side of a nearby picnic shelter. Hikari filled it as full as she then could, and soon began sneaking up on him here to the best of her ability, after returning the aforementioned water gun to her subspace pocket briefly. When she was perched well enough and safe enough in a tree about six feet away from and behind him here, she then quickly withdrew her water gun again from that pocket. And she began shooting it at him, just as quickly as she could do that well enough here. Most of her shots hit the back of his head and the back of his shoulders, while still others she'd just fired hit him near his belt on his back. After her gun was empty, she fled the scene here just as quickly as she could. For he'd then dropped her mystery book on the bench, and then had set off in quite hot pursuit of her, for all the obvious reasons. He'd then done that, just as soon as he actually realized who'd just pelted him with a full load of water in many shots from her water gun well enough here.

Eventually, she couldn't avoid him here well enough, and he caught her in another tree elsewhere in the park. He asked her, "Popcorn Head, why did you just pelt me with a lot of water?"

"You stole my book, for one, Tiger-Hair. Also you call me 'Popcorn Head,' for another. That's enough reasons for me to do that to you here, I think."

"I don't think so, Popcorn Head. You didn't need to do that at all, I believe."

Hikari said, "If you wouldn't have stolen my book or called me something I'm not, then I wouldn't have had a good enough reason to do what I just did to you! You deserved what you just got from me here."

"I don't think so. I suppose that I'll have to think of a sufficient enough punishment for you for doing that now. Let me see. Perhaps you should have to kiss me in order to make up for what you just did to me, Popcorn Head!"

"I'd rather kiss a bear than kiss you, as I'm sure I've told you before, Soruno-san."

"So you did, I'm sure. But how are you going to make up for what you just did to me, then, if you don't kiss me?"

"You deserved what you got from me, and I'm not kissing you. That's another reason for me to be rather upset with you now. For you're asking or ordering me to kiss you often whenever we meet. I don't just kiss anyone, if I don't really want to or have to, in my life. If you ever want any of my kisses, then you're going to have to do a lot to earn them, Tiger-Hair! Considering all that you've done to me so far since our first known meeting with each other, that is, of course."

He laughed at her, and then said, "I was just trying to put plenty of additional stimulation in your life, that's all. Certainly you can't be mad at me for doing that."

Hikari said, "Your kind of fun is not the kind of stimulation that my life needs, Soruno-san. What my life needs, at least in terms of stimulation, is something you can't provide right now in it, if ever. Get it through your head, Tiger-Hair, I'm not interested in your kind of fun right now, if I'll ever be. And as long as you keep bothering me like you've done since we first clashed with each other like we did a while ago, I don't think I'll ever be. And I certainly won't be attracted to you at all, I believe."

"But I'm somewhat gorgeous. Don't you want to hang around gorgeous people in your life?"

"You're not gorgeous, Soruno. And as long as you keep pestering me like you do, I doubt that'll ever change for me in my life."

They talked for a while longer in the tree, until they both got tired of doing so well enough. Especially after she said, "I want my book back right now, if at all possible, Soruno-san. It had better be in the same basic condition that it was in when you stole it for me, or I'll certainly have another reason to be quite mad at you, of course! Get it for me, if you don't wish for me to get after you even more now!"

"Fine, I'll get it for you. Just hold your horses, and let's get out of this tree, then." He soon helped Hikari out of the tree that they were both in, of course. And then they set off for the bench where he'd left her book after she'd pelted him with water. Not too much later, then, they both were by there well enough.

When they got there well enough, they both saw Chiba leaning against a water fountain, and skimming a bit through the book that Soruno had earlier stolen from Tsukino. After Hikari realized sufficiently well that Susumu was reading from her book, she said, "Chiba-san, that happens to be the book that was stolen from me by this particular orange-haired buffoon. I'd really like to have it back now, if at all possible, please."

"Soruno-san, why did you steal this girl's book, if I may ask?"

"She was evidently in quite considerable need of some fun in her life. And that was how I felt I could best give it to her, Chiba-san," said Arinori, a few moments later.

"I didn't need his kind of fun injected into my life like he shot some into it, Chiba-san," said Hikari, with a quite upset look toward Soruno as she said that to Chiba here.

"Sure you did, Popcorn Head. You've obviously had a very boring life to date, for the most part, at least, from what I can gather of you so far in my life. I was just trying to eliminate at least some of it when I stole your book, among other things," teased Soruno, while missing the look that she'd just sent his way here.

"Maybe I have, but that doesn't give you the right to bother me like you do, just the same, Soruno-san."

"She's right," commented Chiba, nodding at her, and glaring at him, somewhat briefly, here and now.

"You're not much better, Chiba," said Hikari. "You've called me 'Miss Flash' before. Remember? And neither 'Popcorn Head' nor 'Miss Flash' is actually my name, boys. My actual name is really Hikari Tsukino, and nothing else at all, for that matter. I'd really prefer that you both actually call me by my real name, if you're ever going to talk to and/or about me, if and whenever possible, in the future. I really don't like it much, if at all, when a lot of people don't call me by my real name. Especially ones who aren't actually part of my family, by the way. Even if they might be somewhat good-looking boys in their respective lives, you two."

"You think we're somewhat good-looking, Tsukino-san?" asked Chiba.

"I didn't say that. I just said that I really don't like it much, if at all, when a lot of people don't call me by my real name, boys. And you're still at the top of my hit list, Soruno-san. As for you, Chiba-san, you're not actually on it yet, if you'll ever be. You'd best hope that you're never on it at all in the future, for all the obvious reasons, of course."

The three of them then talked with each other for at least a little while longer, before Tsukino got her book back from Chiba here. Eventually, though, they all had to part from each other again in their respective lives. And they all went back to their respective residences in the area, no matter where they might be, just as soon as the need or desire then struck them all here. They'd all parted from each other by 10:30 or so, local time, at night, and headed off for their respective residences again, of course.

Hikari arrived home again by 11 or so at night, at the very latest. And she went to her bedroom for the rest of the night soon after doing that well enough. As she got ready for bed, she naturally had to tell Mizuki about all of the things that'd happened for her while she'd just been out elsewhere in the area, for the obvious reasons here. After Mizuki heard about Hikari's pelting of Soruno with plenty of water, she asked, "Did you really have to do that then, Hikari?"

"He deserved it, for all the stuff he's been giving me for quite some time, Mizuki. I just hope his response to my having done so doesn't actually come back to haunt me too much, of course."

"Things like this often seem to have the tendency to grow quite big, if they're not dealt with well enough in a timely enough manner. I hope you know what you're actually doing, in terms of dealing with those two boys here, of course. And that you can handle whatever might happen next well enough, in response to your recent actions with the boys, for that matter, Hikari."

"I believe I can. Otherwise, why would I have pelted Tiger-Hair like I did this evening?"

"I hope you're right. But from what you've already told me to date about him, I don't think he's the kind of boy who might let you get away with what you just did without trying to do something in response to it well enough. You may have awoken a sleeping giant, so to speak, in terms of such things, Hikari. And you might find yourself in a no-win situation with him, eventually, if you two can't find a way to settle your differences easily enough and in a timely enough manner, I fear."

"I don't think you're right, Mizuki."

"Well, I think I am. Only time will eventually tell, of course, though."

Some time later, then, the two of them eventually climbed into their respective beds, and went to sleep, once all the necessary lights were off in Hikari's room here. They were both quite soundly asleep in them again by no later than 12:30 in the morning of Sunday, September 30, 1990, in fact. And so they stayed for several hours in their respective beds, for that matter, of course.

* * *

The next chapter of this particular story will be up soon enough here, if at all possible. If you have any good enough ideas for possible pairings of the main characters, as long as they are male-female in nature, I'm quite willing to hear them, in fact. I really hope that you all might come to enjoy this story and its related series quite a bit, of course. Please read and review quite constructively, if at all possible, quite often, if and whenever you might so choose, people. Until later, then, this is The Universal Storyteller saying, "Over and out!" 


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